GIFT  OF 


THE    ORIENTAL    ROSE 

OR    THE 

TEACHINGS    OF    ABDUL    BAHA 

WHICH      TRACE      THE      CHART      OF 

" The   Shining    Pathway' 


BY 

MARY   HANFORD   FORD 


BROADWAY    PUBLISHING    CO, 
835  BROADWAY 

NEW  YORK 


3607 


COPYEIGHT,  1910, 

BY 
MARY  HANFORD  FORD. 


FOREWORD. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  present  volume  I 
have  been  deeply  indebted  to  M.  Nicolas, 
Secretary  of  the  Persian  Legation  in  Paris, 
who  has  written  a  biography  entitled  Seyed  Ali 
Mohammed,  dlt  le  Bab,  which  is  indicative  of 
profound  research  in  both  the  Persian  and 
Arabic  tongues.  It  is,  however,  lacking  in  dis- 
crimination, as  it  uses  the  untruthful  and  par- 
tisan Mohammedan  memorials  of  the  Bab,  as 
of  equal  authority  with  those  written  by  his 
friends,  and  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  cull  its 
pages.  As  the  book  has  not  been  translated 
into  English,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  bor- 
rowing frankly  from  its  contents,  in  much  that 
touches  upon  the  story  of  the  Bab  and  Kurret 
ul  Aine.  I  must  also  express  my  obligations  to 
Gobineau's  famous  monograph  upon  the  Bab. 

It  would  be  impossible,  however,  to  put  into 
words  the  treasure  of  what  I  owe  to  my  own 
visit  to  Acca,  and  to  the  long  line  of  traveling 
Americans  returning  from  that  prison  city, 
each  of  whom  perhaps  has  added  a  color,  an 
outline  or  a  bit  of  sunshine  to  the  ensemble  of 
the  booklet  here  offered;  may  I  hope  it  has 


Caught  some  fragrance  of  sweet  rich  roses,  of 
sandalwood  and  myrrh? 

All  the  travelers  have  come  back  like  pil- 
grims of  a  new  hope,  bubbling  and  overflowing 
with  the  ideas,  impressions  and  suggestions 
drawn  from  their  visit  to  this  inspiring  spirit- 
ual center,  and  their  contact  with  Abdul  Baha. 
Each  has  illustrated  the  reply  given  by  the 
Servant  of  God  to  the  questioner  who  asked 
him:  "Why  do  all  the  guests  who  visit  you 
come  away  with  shining  countenances?" 

He  said  with  his  beautiful  smile;  "I  cannot 
tell  you,  but  in  all  those  upon  whom  I  look,  I 
see  only  my  Father's  Face." 

.THE  AUTHOE. 


THE  ORIENTAL  ROSE 

OR 
"The  Shining  Pathway " 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE   COMING   OF   THE    BAB. 

Have  you  ever  heard  of  Abbas  Effendi?  He 
is  known  to  his  followers  as  Abdul  Baha,  which 
means  the  Servant  of  God.  He  has  been  for 
many  years  a  political  prisoner  in  Acca,  the 
ancient  prison  city  of  the  Turkish  Sultan,  but 
his  name  is  beginning  to  be  whispered  every- 
where as  a  symbol  of  the  love  which  frees, 
which  warms  the  heart  and  stirs  the  world  to 
betterment. 

Acca  was  once  known  as  Acre,  and  its  walls 
frown  upon  the  traveler  as  darkly  as  in  the 
day  when  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  stormed  them 
with  his  tumultuous  crusaders ;  but  since  the 
restoration  of  the  constitution  in  Turkey  and 
the  abdication  of  Abdul  Hamid,  openings  have 
been  cut  in  these  strong  defenses,  and  the  gates 
are  no  longer  closed  and  barred. 

In  the  August  which  followed  the  wonderful 

7 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

July  day  that  gave  the  turbaned  people  the 
franchise,  Abdul  Hamid  issued  a  strange  de- 
cree, setting  free  every  prisoner  held  that  day 
within  the  confines  of  the  empire,  and  thus 
Abbas  Effendi  was  liberated. 

He  had  been  confined  within  the  walls  of 
Acca  since  1868,  and  had  been  a  prisoner  since 
he  was  a  boy  of  nine,  and  perhaps  even  the 
promulgation  of  the  constitution  would  not 
have  broken  his  bonds.  He  said  to  an  Ameri- 
can guest: 

"Whenever  I  thought  of  freedom  I  could 
not  but  remember  the  many  sufferers  languish- 
ing in  prison,  so  I  was  not  able  to  pray  for  my 
own  liberation,  I  must  pray  for  the  freedom 
of  all,  and  I  was  made  happy  because  at  last 
liberty  was  granted  to  every  imprisoned  one  as 
well  as  to  myself." 

For  thirty  years  Abdul  Baha  has  not  been 
confined  within  prison  walls,  but  simply  within 
the  limits  of  the  town  of  Acca,  and  since  1892 
he  has  been  the  center  of  the  great  Bahaist 
movement  that  has  brought  light  to  the  Orient 
and  the  Occident. 

For  many  decades  troops  of  pilgrims  have 
poured  into  Acca  from  all  parts  of  the  world; 
western  merchant  and  Oriental  dreamer  have 
jostled  one  another  in  the  streets  of  the  prison 
city  seeking  the  great  message  of  peace  and 

8 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

unity,  of  loving  service  that  has  quickened  the 
heart  of  mankind  from  the  center  of  oppres- 
sion. 

In  spite  of  the  surveillance  of  the  suspicious 
Turkish  police  the  mansion  of  Abdul  Baha  has 
sheltered  countless  foreign  guests,  and  English, 
German,  French  and  American  pilgrims  have 
left  its  generous  portals  to  carry  back  to  their 
own  rushing  and  progressive  commonwealths  a 
sense  of  the  splendor  of  life  that  they  had 
never  before  suspected. 

The  house  of  Abbas  Effendi  is  an  Oriental 
structure  built  round  a  court,  and  its  situation 
just  beside  the  sea  wall  of  Acca  gives  its  upper 
chambers  a  wonderful  outlook  over  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Upon  the  roof  is  the  simple  apart- 
ment, furnished  with  the  merest  necessaries, 
which  the  Teacher  of  man  occupies  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.  It  frequently  con- 
tains no  bed,  for  Abdul  Baha  is  continually  giv- 
ing away  this  necessity  of  civilized  existence. 
It  is  impossible  to  buy  a  bed  in  Acca,  and  so, 
when  this  lover  of  his  kind  during  his  morning 
walk  finds  a  fever  stricken  sufferer  tossing 
upon  the  bare  ground,  he  straightway  sends  him 
his  bed,  and  lies  upon  the  hard  floor  himself 
until  some  one  discovers  his  plight  and  pro- 
vides him  with  a  new  one. 

Let  no  one  commiserate  him  too  much  in  such 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

a  sacrifice,  however,  for  Abdul  Balm's  body 
is  of  such  slight  import  to  him,  that  he  prob- 
ably sleeps  as  sweetly  on  the  uncovered  boards 
as  on  his  narrow  cot,  and  nothing  would  drive 
slumber  from  his  eyes  so  quickly  as  the  con- 
sciousness that  another  needed  his  couch. 

To  understand  the  mission  of  Abdul  Baha 
and  its  significance  to  the  world,  we  must  go 
back  to  the  year  of  his  birth  in  1844,  and  to 
the  Persian  city  of  Shiraz,  where,  in  that  same 
year  Mohammed  Ali  first  cried  his  message  into 
the  listening  air,  and  received  his  title  of  the 
Bab  or  Gate.  He  was  accepted  immediately 
by  many  followers,  as  the  eagerly  expected 
"Mahdi."  Mohammedan  tradition  had  lovingly 
preserved  the  holy  legend  of  the  Twelfth 
Imaum,  who  had  disappeared  two  hundred  and 
sixty  years  after  the  coming  of  Mohammed, 
and  whose  return  was  promised  in  a  thousand 
years.  The  expiration  of  that  period  brought 
the  date  1260  of  the  Islamic  chronology,  which 
corresponds  with  1844?  of  our  era. 

In  Chicago  a  temple  is  in  process  of  erection 
to  which  funds  have  been  contributed  by  all 
the  religions  of  the  world,  and  yet  its  building 
is  in  the  hands  of  Americans.  It  is  to  be  called 
the  Maszhrak  el  Azcar,  which  means  the  Dawn- 
ing Place  of  Prayer,  and  is  the  result  of  the 
widespread  movement  which  the  Bab  initiated 

IO 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

in  1844.  As  we  shall  see,  this  is  a  movement  of 
unity  and  brotherhood,  far  reaching  in  its  con- 
sequences. For  years  Americans  have  been  de- 
spatching missionaries  to  the  Orient,  and  pour- 
ing forth  generous  floods  of  money  to  Chris- 
tianize the  heathen.  And  now  suddenly  they 
have  become  so  Christianized  that  they  have 
sent  a  contribution  of  something  like  five  thou- 
sand dollars  as  their  portion  towards  this  great 
Place  of  Prayer  in  the  Occident,  where  they 
realize  that  the  time  of  fulfillment  has  come 
for  all  that  Christ  taught. 

The  message  of  the  Bab  was  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  world  religion  which  would  unite 
all  creeds,  and  teach  men  to  realize  that  God 
is  one  and  the  same  in  every  faith  that  has 
brought  truth  to  the  human  heart.  Such  a 
teaching  must  have  seemed  dangerously  heret- 
ical to  the  narrow  and  theological  Mohamme- 
dan priesthood,  and  therefore  the  devotees  of 
this  new  cult,  great  and  simple  as  it  is,  have 
suffered  terrible  persecution.  But  its  tenets 
have  laid  a  solid  foundation  of  unity,  equality, 
and  brotherhood  throughout  Persia  and  Tur- 
key, which  has  been  manifested  recently  in  the 
constitutional  reforms  of  those  countries. 
Thirty  years  ago  also,  Abdul  Baha  wrote  a 
book  entitled  The  Mysterious  Forces  of  Civili- 
zation, which  has  just  been  translated  into  Eng- 

II 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

lish,  but  it  has  circulated  among  his  Oriental 
disciples  from  its  first  production,  giving  them 
ideas  of  rational  and  noble  human  relationships 
such  as  can  only  be  realized  under  a  free  and 
constitutional  government. 

The  western  world  is  accustomed  to  regard 
Mohammed  as  an  impostor  who  misled  his  fol- 
lowers and  taught  them  to  persecute  the  Chris- 
tians, but  the  student  has"  discovered  that  Mo- 
hammed, so  far  from  persecuting  the  Chris- 
tians, wrote  out  an  oath  for  their  protection, 
which  he  obliged  his  followers  to  sign.  He 
reverenced  Christ  as  a  prophet  of  God,  and 
necessarily  respected  the  believers  in  the  reli- 
gion he  founded.  But  Mohammed's  death  was 
followed  by  the  immediate  degradation  of  his 
noble  teaching. 

Mohammed's  daughter  Fatima  was  a  remark- 
able woman,  devoted  to  the  preservation  of  her 
father's  cult  in  its  spiritual  integrity,  her  hus- 
band Ali  became  his  true  interpreter,  and  was 
designated  by  the  prophet  as  the  one  who 
should  stand  in  his  place  to  keep  the  faith  pure. 
But  because  Ali  was  an  apostle  of  peace  he  was 
set  aside,  and  the  warlike  Omar  interpolated 
a  new  propaganda,  which  the  world  still  mis- 
names that  of  Mohammed,  in  which  the  sword 
usurped  the  place  of  the  divine  Word. 

A  schism  arose  consequently  among  the  re- 

12 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ligionaries  of  Islam.  The  followers  of  All  be- 
came the  Shiite  sect,  and  those  of  Omar  the 
Sonnites.  The  Shiites  have  always  been  the 
repository  of  Mohammed's  mystical  teaching, 
they  have  been  poets  and  lovers  of  peace,  pon- 
derers of  their  sacred  Scriptures.  The  Persian 
Mohammedans  are  all  Shiite,  while  the  Turks 
on  the  contrary  are  all  Sonnite,  and  adherents 
of  Omar.  So  while  the  Sonnites  have  controlled 
the  political  machinery  of  the  later  Moham- 
medanism, the  Shiites  have  produced  its  sufis, 
its  poets  and  soothsayers. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Mohammed  should  have 
foretold  the  coming  of  the  twelve  Imaums  or 
holy  men,  who  must  keep  fresh  his  teachings  in 
the  heart  of  man,  and  not  only  the  date  of  the 
last  one  but  his  reappearance  in  the  year  1260. 
This  accounts  for  the  excitement  in  regard  to 
the  rising  of  the  Mahdi*  in  Africa  and  Arabia 
in  recent  years.  The  Mahdi  is  the  expected 
Imaum,  whose  rise  would  revolutionize  the 
world  and  establish  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the 
earth,  as  his  zealous  converts  believed. 

When  Mohammed  Ali  announced  his  identity 
with  this  Wonderful  One  for  whom  the  soul  of 
his  people  yearned,  many  accepted  him  imme- 
diately. The  Mohammedan  Mullahs  demanded 
of  him  sternly:  "Who  are  you?"  He  replied: 

*Mahdi  means  the  Inspired  or  well  directed  one. 

13 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"I  am  that  One  for  whom  you  have  been 
waiting  a  thousand  years !" 

But  the  Mullahs  refused  to  recognize  him 
as  the  True  One  because  they  looked  for  a 
royal  personage,  surrounded  by  state  and 
splendor,  bearing  many  titles,  and  the  inhabit- 
ant of  purely  symbolic  localities.  To  be  sure 
Mohammed  Ali  fulfilled  the  requirements  in 
that  he  was  a  descendant  of  Mohammed  wear- 
ing the  green  turban,  and  was  a  young  man  of 
barely  twenty-five  when  he  began  to  deliver  his 
message.  But  the  Mullahs  had  conceived  a  far 
more  worldly  image  of  a  different  personage, 
and  besides  the  Bab  did  not  proclaim  the  doc- 
trine they  wished  to  hear.  They  demanded  that 
he  should  re-enforce  their  authority,  and 
strengthen  their  already  deeply  entrenched  the- 
ology of  degenerate  Mohammedanism. 

Instead  of  that  he  announced  the  coming  of 
a  new  day  of  God,  when  all  men  should  become 
brothers,  forgetting  their  religious  differences 
in  the  kinship  of  one  universal  and  loving 
Father.  Moreover  he  spoke  of  himself  as 
merely  the  herald  of  another  who  was  to  fol- 
low him,  who  was  to  be  Baha  Ullah,  the  glory 
of  God,  or  Him  whom  God  shall  manifest.  This 
precious  effulgence  of  the  Almighty  he  de- 
scribed most  lovingly  as  the  greatest  rcvelator 
of  God  whom  the  world  had  ever  known. 

14 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

He  assured  his  followers  that  while  he  him- 
self would  be  martyred,  the  greater  one  would 
soon  dawn  upon  the  horizon,  and  that  they 
should  see  him.  When  they  asked  how  they 
might  know  him,  the  Bab  replied  earnestly: 

"Every  word  of  his  utterance  will  be  so 
thrilling  that  you  can  not  mistake  him.  If  he 
recites  a  verse  from  the  Koran  you  will  feel  in 
the  marvel  of  his  tone  that  he  is  the  promised 
one.  So  do  not  yield  to  the  conventional  fear 
of  being  in  the  wrong,  and  thus  sacrifice  the 
greatest  joy  of  human  life,  the  joy  of  recog- 
nizing a  Manifestation  of  God  in  his  Day !" 

The  Shiite  tradition  in  regard  to  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Imaums  or  Holy  men  is  very  exact. 
Djaber  ed  Abdullah  reports  that  Mohammed 
himself  foretold  their  coming,  and  said  of  the 
twelfth: 

"This  twelfth  Imaum  is  he  to  whom  God  will 
give  the  victory  from  the  rising  to  the  setting, 
and  it  is  he  who  will  be  concealed  among  his 
sectaries  and  his  saints.  While  he  is  hidden  no 
one  will  believe  in  his  reign,  except  the  chosen 
ones  to  whose  hearts  God  will  give  faith." 

WThen  Djaber  inquired  if  the  Imaum  would 
be  of  value  to  his  followers  even  in  conceal- 
ment, the  prophet  responded : 

"Surely  he  will,  I  swear  it  by  him  who  has 
made  me  his  prophet!  His  faithful  ones  will 

15 


THE   SHINING  PATHWAY 

be  resplendent  in  his  light,  and  his  concealed 
reign  will  be  as  glorious  to  them  as  is  the  sun 
to  other  men." 

Among  the  traditional  books  of  Islam  the 
prescience  of  the  Bab's  arrival  is  so  constant 
that  one  wonders  how  any  one  could  have  failed 
to  recognize  him,  and  it  is  plainly  spoken  that 
his  falsifiers  shall  be  found  among  the  great 
Mullahs  or  clergy.  The  True  One  is  called 
sometimes  the  Gha'im,  literally  the  One  who 
arises.  It  is  said  of  him: 

"The  perfection  of  Moses,  the  splendor  of 
Jesus,  and  the  patience  of  Job  shall  be  in  him, 
and  his  friends  shall  be  abused  during  his  time, 
and  their  heads  shall  be  just  as  the  heads  of  the 
Turks  and  Deylanites  were  exchanged  as  pres- 
ents, they  shall  be  slain  and  burnt,  terrified  with 
fear  and  appalled ;  the  earth  shall  be  dyed  with 
their  blood,  and  lamentation  and  wailing  shall 
prevail  among  their  women;  these  are  indeed 
my  friends." 

Again  the  events  of  his  days  are  definitely 
foretold  in  the  prediction  of  the  martyrdom  at 
"Zora,"  which  is  identified  as  "the  city  of  Rey," 
an  ancient  city  near  which  Teheran  is  built. 
Thus  runs  the  tradition  which  Baha  Ullah  re- 
peats in  the  Ighan: 

"Hast  thou  entered  the  city  of  Rey?" 
"Yes,"  I  replied.  He  inquired:  "Hast  thou 

16 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

visited  the  cattle  market?"  "Yes."  "Hast 
thou  seen  the  black  mountain  upon  the  right 
hand  of  the  road?  There  is  Zora,  where  they 
will  slay  eighty  men  of  the  children  of  certain 
ones,  all  of  whom  are  free  from  guilt."  "Who 
will  kill  them?"  I  questioned.  He  said,  "The 
children  of  Persia." 

And  in  that  very  spot  these  eighty  poor 
creatures  were  tortured  to  death  for  no  crime 
except  that  they  accepted  the  revelation  of  the 
True  One ! 

Mohammed  said  of  Ali:  "I  am  the  city  of 
knowledge,  and  Ali  is  the  Gate  thereto,  if  there 
were  no  gate  the  city  could  not  be  entered." 

So  each  Imaum  was  known  as  a  Gate,  and 
naturally  Mohammed  Ali  gave  himself  this  title 
which  was  perpetuated  by  his  followers. 

Another  element  of  extreme  radicalism  in  his 
teaching  which  was  necessarily  obnoxious  to  the 
established  faith  of  the  clergy,  was  that  there 
should  be  no  priesthood  in  the  new  Day,  but 
that  all  should  teach  the  truth  of  God  in  the 
leisure  permitted  by  ordinary  avocations.  In 
this  the  wealthy  and  powerful  Mullahs  saw  the 
destruction  of  their  caste  and  privilege,  and 
they  could  not  combat  too  earnestly  a  revelation 
the  spread  of  which  must  reduce  them  to  the 
condition  of  the  average  man.  The  Bab  also 
insisted  upon  the  equality  of  the  sexes,  and 

17 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

taught  that  the  seclusion  of  women  according 
to  the  Mohammedan  law  should  cease,  and  that 
men  must  take  but  one  wife.  His  followers 
among  the  women  therefore  took  off  their  veils, 
and  went  about  as  freely  as  did  English  women, 
while  their  teaching  and  speaking  were  marked 
by  a  peculiar  eloquence  and  power,  as  advo- 
cates of  the  new  faith. 

The  Bab  was  extremely  fond  of  symbolism, 
and  pondered  deeply  on  the  spiritual  signifi- 
cance of  numbers  and  mathematical  forms.  The 
numbers  19  and  9  were  especially  sacred  to 
him,  and  as  19  is  the  series  of  years  constitut- 
ing the  lunar  cycle,  and  provides  a  more  exact 
chronology  for  the  earth  than  the  movement  of 
the  sun,  he  established  a  new  chronology  for  his 
followers  according  to  which  there  shall  be  a 
year  of  nineteen  months,  each  containing  nine- 
teen days. 

He  spoke  of  the  awakening  of  which  he  repre- 
sented the  dawning  point  as  an  ellipse,  which 
is  an  oblong,  larger  in  the  middle  than  at  the 
ends.  He  called  himself  the  first  Point  or 
Nukta  of  this  ellipse,  while  the  Glory  of  God, 
or  Him  who  God  shall  manifest,  should  con- 
stitute its  mighty  center. 

The  Bab  was  the  precursor  of  Baha  Ullah, 
and  yet  he  also  was  heralded  in  his  turn,  for 
the  completion  of  the  prophesied  time  was 

18 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

recognized  by  Mohammedan  students,  and  many 
were  looking  for  the  twelfth  Imaum,  the  great 
Imaum  Mahdi.  Mohammed  Ali  was  an  orphan, 
and  was  reared  by  his  uncle  who  intended  that 
he  should  become  a  merchant  like  himself.  He 
received,  therefore,  only  the  very  limited  edu- 
cation which  is  deemed  sufficient  for  such  a  busi- 
ness in  Persia.  When  he  was  about  nineteen 
years  of  age  he  was  sent  by  his  uncle  on  a 
business  mission  to  Boushir,  and  from  there 
went  to  Kerbelah,  where  are  the  tombs  of  the 
Imaums. 

Though  intended  for  the  career  of  a  mer- 
chant, Mohammed  Ali  was  an  exceedingly  de- 
vout young  man.  He  loved  to  ponder  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  was  often  sunk  in  meditation 
upon  their  hidden  meanings.  All  traditions 
agree  that  he  was  of  a  peculiarly  charming  per- 
sonality. He  was  beautiful  to  look  upon,  and 
possessed  a  gift  of  eloquent  and  magnetic 
speech  which  would  have  rendered  him  irresist- 
ible if  he  had  been  left  free  to  teach  his  great 
truth. 

At  the  time  of  his  visit  to  Kerbelah  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  Mohammedan  savants 
was  delivering  his  lectures  there  to  a  crowd  of 
students,  and  among  his  disciples  were  two  who 
became  the  most  noted  among  the  early  fol- 
lowers of  the  Bab  himself,  Mullah  Sadek,  who 

19 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

later  was  known  as  Khorassani,  and  Houssein 
Bouchrouyehi,  afterwards  called  the  Bab-el-bab, 
or  Gate  of  the  Bab.  He  was  the  first  convert 
of  the  Bab. 

Khorassani  has  told  us  of  his  initial  meeting 
with  his  master.  While  at  Kerbelah  Moham- 
med Ali  was  accustomed  to  go  to  the  mosque 
at  the  same  hour  every  day,  where  he  would 
stand  lost  in  meditation  for  a  long  time. 
Khorassani  felt  strongly  attracted  towards 
him,  and  determined  to  address  him.  He  did 
so  upon  his  next  visit  to  the  mosque,  but  the 
young  man  put  his  finger  on  his  lip,  and  turned 
away  without  response.  Khorassani  somewhat 
angered  at  this  rebuff,  left  the  place  of  devo- 
tion at  the  same  time  as  the  stranger,  but 
resolved  never  to  speak  to  him  again.  Mo- 
hammed Ali,  however,  hastened  toward  him  as 
soon  as  they  were  outside  the  limits  of  the 
sacred  edifice,  and  excused  himself  so  engag- 
ingly for  his  apparent  discourtesy  that  he 
could  not  fail  of  pardon. 

The  young  devotee  explained  that  while  in 
the  house  of  prayer  he  felt  it  wrong  to  allow 
even  a  vagrant  thought  to  linger  in  his  mind, 
and  could  not  therefore  indulge  in  conversa- 
tion of  mundane  affairs.  Khorassani  there- 
upon invited  him  to  come  to  his  house  the  fol- 
lowing evening  when  he  would  be  honored  by  a 

20 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

visit  from  the  holy  teacher,  Sheik  Kazem,  and 
some  of  his  most  distinguished  pupils. 

"What  a  joy  to  be  present  in  an  assembly 
where  the  most  heavenly  light  of  God  will  be 
spoken  of!"  Mohammed  Ali  replied  with  much 
delight. 

Upon  the  following  evening,  however,  the 
company  had  all  gathered  before  the  stranger 
appeared.  The  prayers  had  begun,  and  Mul- 
lah Houssein  Bouchrouyehi  was  discoursing 
upon  the  martyrdom  of  the  Imaum  Houssein 
when  Mohammed  Ali  stood  upon  the  threshold. 

It  is  the  Persian  custom  that  all  shall  rise 
when  a  person  of  special  distinction  enters  a 
room,  but  Sheik  Kazem  was  too  independent 
to  attend  to  such  points  of  etiquette,  and  was 
never  accustomed  to  notice  in  any  fashion  the 
entrance  of  belated  guests.  As  the  beautiful 
unknown  paused  upon  the  threshold,  however, 
Sheik  Kazem  rose,  and  naturally  all  followed 
his  example,  while  a  thrill  ran  through  the 
assembly  touching  the  heart  of  each  one.  Mul- 
lah Houssein  Bouchrouyehi  to  whom  this  ad- 
vent was  to  prove  of  supreme  importance 
stopped  speechless  for  the  moment,  while  the 
stranger  apparently  unconscious  of  the  excite- 
ment he  had  caused  sank  modestly  into  a  seat 
near  the  door.  Sheik  Kazem  begged  him  to 
station  himself  among  the  more  honored  guests, 

21 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

but  the  young  stranger  from  Shiraz  refused, 
and  sat  quietly  until  all  had  taken  their  de- 
parture. Then  Khorassani  insisted  that  he 
should  be  seated  more  worthily,  and  rising 
without  further  protest  he  possessed  himself  of 
the  place  which  Sheik  Kazem  had  occupied. 

Shortly  afterward  the  gifted  Shirazi  was  no 
longer  seen  in  Kerbelah,  but  he  was  not  for- 
gotten. He  returned  to  Shiraz,  where,  in  a 
few  years,  he  made  the  amazing  announcement 
of  his  mission,  which  he  repeated  at  Mecca, 
where  he  went  on  the  holy  pilgrimage,  but  not 
as  an  orthodox  Mohammedan. 

Before  the  death  of  old  Sheik  Kazem  he  had 
told  his  chosen  disciples  that  they  would  see 
the  Imaum  Mahdi.  Some  of  these  have  re- 
peated the  predictions  of  the  old  seer.  Soulei- 
man  Khan  Qualihi  suffered  a  horrible  death  as 
martyr  for  his  acceptance  of  the  Bab's  teach- 
ing, and  he  said : 

"The  Sheik  promised  me  that  I  should  see 
the  reappearance  of  the  Imaum  Mahdi.  'You 
will  be  there,'  he  declared,  'and  you  will  give 
him  your  faith.' ' 

Mullah  Houssein  Bouchrouyehi  demanded 
with  insistence  how  the  Manifestation  would 
appear,  and  the  Sheik  replied  by  quoting  a 
verse  from  the  sacred  writings: 

"I  can  not  speak  more  definitely,  but  the  sun 

22 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

of  truth  from  whatever  dawning  point  it  may 
rise  will  illumine  all  the  horizons ;  and  the  mir- 
rors of  the  hearts  of  those  who  love  it  well,  it 
will  adjust  them  in  such  fashion  that  they  will 
receive  the  emanations  of  light  and  knowledge." 

Before  the  Sheik  passed  away  he  announced 
his  approaching  departure  to  his  followers, 
and  reiterated  his  prophecy  of  the  coming  of 
the  True  One.  All  broke  forth  into  lamenta- 
tion, and  loudest  among  them  was  Kerim 
Khan.  The  old  Sheik  fixed  his  eyes  upon  him 
and  exclaimed: 

"Dog!  You  do  not  wish  that  I  go,  and 
that  after  me  the  Absolute  Truth  shall  be 
manifested !" 

The  aged  Seer  looking  into  the  soul  of  the 
man  whose  complaints  massacred  the  air  recog- 
nized the  Judas  of  the  group,  for  Kerim  Khan 
became  the  successor  of  Sheik  Kazem,  the 
greatest  of  the  Ulema,  and  the  most  terrible 
persecutor  of  the  Bab  and  his  devoted  fol- 
lowers. In  fact,  with  the  Vizier  Aghassi,  he 
was  responsible  for  the  murderous  execution 
of  the  Bab. 

The  remainder  of  the  group  was  prominent 
in  the  early  movement  of  the  Bab,  and  some 
of  its  members  were  numbered  as  those  "Liv- 
ing Letters"  who  spelled  the  new  knowledge  of 
God  into  the  heart  of  the  world.  After  the 

23 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

death  of  Sheik  Kazem  they  spent  forty  days  in 
Kouffa  praying  in  the  mosque,  and  preparing 
themselves  for  the  great  mission  they  felt  was 
before  them.  Then  they  separated  to  find  the 
Imaum,  who  they  were  convinced  was  some- 
where in  Persia,  and  to  whom  they  believed 
they  would  be  led. 

Is  it  not  a  beautiful  picture,  this  group  of 
praying  men,  gathered  first  about  the  reverend 
figure  of  the  seer  who  warned  them  of  the  ap- 
proaching wonder,  and  then,  after  his  serene 
departure,  waiting  together  for  the  confirma- 
tion they  were  certain  would  come? 

They  scattered  at  length  to  look  for  the 
dawning  place  of  the  light.  Three  of  them, 
Bouchrouyeki,  Khorassani,  and  Mullah  Ali 
Goher  were  united  by  a  friendship  which  never 
lessened.  Bouchrouyehi  in  his  wanderings 
reached  Shiraz  just  at  the  moment  when  the 
Bab  gave  the  first  announcement  of  his  mis- 
sion: 

"Come  to  me,  all  ye  seekers,  for  the  gate 
of  divine  wisdom  is  opened  through  my  per- 
son." 

We  can  imagine  how  Bouchrouyehi  fell  at 
his  feet,  quite  vanquished  by  the  light  in  his 
face,  by  the  love  that  radiated  from  him,  and 
he  became  his  first  missionary. 

The    Bab    sent    him    forth    to    Isfahan,    to 

24 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Khorassan,  and  at  length  to  Teheran,  bearing 
letters  to  the  Shah,  and  his  Vizier  Aghassi, 
and  also  to  two  very  different  persons,  Mirza 
Houssein  Ali  who  should  later  become  Baha 
Ullah,  and  to  Mirza  Yahya,  his  half  brother. 
This  latter  individual  was  known  to  subsequent 
history  as  Subh-y-Ezel.  When  Houssein  Ali 
was  recognized  as  the  promised  one,  his  half 
brother  craving  this  honor  for  himself,  claimed 
it,  and  became  the  founder  of  a  schism  which 
had  no  existence  except  on  paper.  Western 
historians  have  discussed  his  pretensions  as  if 
they  had  importance,  and  Professor  Brown,  of 
Cambridge,  who  wrote  the  Narrative  of  Persian 
Travel,  and  the  volumes  on  Subh-y-Ezel,  did 
not  discover  that  the  disciples  of  the  latter 
never  numbered  more  than  sixty,  most  of  whom 
were  members  of  his  own  family.  Brown  spent 
a  day  with  him  in  his  imprisonment  at  Cyprus, 
and  filled  with  sympathy  at  the  tale  of  trouble 
he  poured  into  the  Englishman's  ears,  Brown 
wrote  a  history  in  his  defense.  He  did  not  re- 
flect that  the  prisoner  was  the  victim  of  his 
own  vanity  and  held  absolutely  no  place  in  the 
fulfillment  of  the  Bab's  prophecy,  as  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  Gate  well  knew. 

Probably  the  True  One  perceived  as  he  wrote 
the  letters  what  was  the  destiny  of  each  re- 
cipient, for  all  things  seemed  clear  in  his  vision 

25 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

of  the  future.  The  Shah  and  Vizier  Aghassi 
threw  carelessly  aside  the  documents  delivered 
to  them  announcing  the  dawn  of  a  New  Day  in 
which  the  justice  of  God  must  reign,  and 
Aghassi  was  inspired  only  to  that  bitter  per- 
secution of  the  True  One  which  ended  in  his 
death. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  follow  Mullah 
Bouchrouyehi  in  his  progress  through  Persia, 
and  his  picturesque  encounter  with  the  fellow- 
students  of  Sheik  Kazem.  It  was  a  simple 
message  that  he  delivered  to  these  brothers  in 
truth : 

"I  have  found  him,  he  is  in  Shiraz,  go  and 
see  for  yourself!" 

And  they  went !  Bouchrouyehi  was  a  mili- 
tant personality,  worthy  of  confidence,  and  his 
friends  were  in  the  habit  of  trusting  him. 

Innumerable  stories  are  told  of  the  charm 
and  potency  reflected  in  the  personality  of  the 
True  One,  of  his  miraculous  wisdom,  and  the 
swift  and  intuitive  power  which  enabled  him  to 
meet  and  overthrow  his  adversaries  invariably 
with  such  ease  that  he  would  have  conquered 
the  world  if  he  had  been  left  at  liberty.  As 
one  reads  one  is  reminded  of  the  apocryphal 
tales  which  reveal  to  us  perhaps  the  person- 
ality of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  exquisite  gospel 
stories  which  picture  Him  in  the  house  of  the 

26 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

publican,  or  in  the  court  of  Pilate,  with  Martha 
and  Mary,  or  on  the  mountain  with  the  inti- 
mate group  of  those  he  loved. 

What  was  it  that  rendered  him  different 
from  all  others,  that  would  have  rescued  him 
invulnerable,  and  irresistible  had  he  chosen  to 
be  so?  It  was  the  breath  of  God  upon  him, 
the  heavenly  effulgence  shining  into  his  per- 
fect mirror,  and  as  we  read  these  later  stories, 
it  seems  that  the  light  is  again  gleaming  in 
our  dark  world! 

The  clergy  of  Shiraz,  enraged  at  the  per- 
sistence of  the  Bab  in  preaching  his  truth,  and 
convinced  that  he  was  ignorant  and  unlettered, 
and  could  not  withstand  them  in  public  de- 
bate, arranged  a  grand  council  in  the  mosque 
of  the  city,  where  they  commanded  him  to 
retract  his  dangerous  teachings,  threatening 
him  with  fearful  tortures  if  he  refused.  The 
Bab,  however,  mounted  the  pulpit  and  gave  a 
discourse  so  eloquent,  so  replete  with  the  learn- 
ing of  his  adversaries,  so  convincing  in  its 
declaration  of  his  own  claims,  that  the  antag- 
onists who  came  to  shame  him  witnessed  the 
conversion  of  their  own  public. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  Shah  and  the  Vizier 
Aghassi  moved  by  the  fame  of  this  episode  sent 
Sheik  Yahya  to  Shiraz  to  reduce  this  danger- 
ous heretic  to  submission,  and  bring  back  to 

27 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

the  court  an  account  of  his  unquestionable 
charlatanry.  Sheik  Yahya  was  an  honorable 
and  really  devout  person,  by  no  means  so  con- 
ventionally conservative  in  his  faith  as  his  su- 
periors supposed.  His  first  interview  with  the 
Bab  interested  him  tremendously,  and  left  him, 
in  spite  of  his  mission,  impressed  with  the  sin- 
cerity and  illumination  of  this  unique  personage. 

At  length  he  asked  the  True  One  for  a  com- 
mentary upon  the  Surat  108  of  the  Koran. 
The  Bab  was  famous  for  the  illuminated  verses 
which  he  delivered  extemporaneously  at  the 
request  of  any  one  who  desired  an  utterance 
or  discourse  upon  sacred  subjects. 

In  this  case  the  response  was  immediate  and 
surprising.  The  Bab  gave  the  commentary, 
and  Sheik  Yahya  realized  that  it  was  one  that 
he  himself  had  conceived  after  long  pondering 
upon  this  very  passage.  But  he  had  never 
committed  it  to  writing,  or  spoken  of  it  to  any 
one.  It  wras  preserved  alone  in  the  treasure 
house  of  his  soul. 

He  bowed  and  departed,  deeply  troubled. 
What  was  this  man?  Was  he  a  prophet  of 
God?  Could  an  impostor,  a  charlatan  possess 
such  illumination,  such  insight?  He  pondered 
long,  and  finally  decided  that  he  would  cast 
lots  with  God,  so  to  speak,  on  this  momentous 
decision.  He  had  always  been  conventionally 

28 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

received  at  the  house  of  the  Bab,  where  a  serv- 
ant opened  the  door  and  conducted  him  into 
the  presence  of  the  True  One.  He  decided  that 
on  his  next  visit  he  would  knock  softly  at  the 
door,  and  if  contrary  to  custom  the  Bab  him- 
self came  to  admit  him,  took  his  hand,  and 
did  not  relinquish  it  until  he  was  led  into  the 
reception  chamber,  he  would  accept  him  as  a 
Manifestation  of  God,  as  the  One  in  fact  who 
had  been  longed  for  a  thousand  years ! 

He  prayed  earnestly  before  he  started  on 
his  momentous  journey  the  following  day.  He 
tapped  gently  on  the  door,  the  Bab  himself  un- 
closed it,  grasped  his  hand,  led  him  into  the 
salon,  and  only  released  his  clasp  when  he  had 
seated  him  in  his  chair. 

Then  the  soul  of  Sheik  Yahya  rose  within 
him,  he  embraced  the  True  One  and  confessed 
his  faith  in  him.  The  Bab  rejoiced  over  him 
with  an  especial  happiness,  for  he  was  an  en- 
lightened man.  He  accepted  gladly  the  mis- 
sion the  Bab  laid  upon  him,  and  wrote  to  the 
Shah  and  Vizier  Aghassi  of  his  conversion.  As 
a  matter  of  course  his  life  in  this  world  was 
completely  ruined  by  this  courageous  decision, 
but  eternity  became  his  and  he  had  no  regrets. 
He  suffered  martyrdom  soon  afterward,  and 
was  not  long  separated  from  his  beloved 
master. 

29 


THE  SHINING  PATHWAY 
CHAPTER  II. 

THE    TEACHINGS    OF   THE   TRUE   ONE. 

The  Bab  was  not  long  left  in  peace,  how- 
ever. His  wanderings  from  place  to  place,  his 
escapes  from  death  were  for  some  time  marvel- 
ous. His  enforced  separation  from  his  beauti- 
ful young  wife  added  to  the  pathos  of  this 
tragic  situation.  His  bridal  day  was  scarcely 
over  before  imprisonment  snatched  him  forever 
from  her  side.  For  a  long  time  she  refused  to 
sleep  in  a  bed,  and  flung  herself  upon  the  hard 
floor,  declaring  that  if  she  could  not  share 
his  incarceration,  at  least,  she  would  weep 
through  the  dark  hours  of  each  night.  At 
last,  however,  the  True  One  wrote  her  a  touch- 
ing letter  in  which  he  said: 

"Do  you  not  know  that  when  you  lie  upon 
the  floor  I  feel  all  its  hardness,  and  that  when 
you  weep  my  eyes  also  are  drowned  in  tears?" 

After  that  the  poor  lady  wept  no  more 
though  the  sorrow  of  her  heart  never  lessened 
for  the  wonderful  one  who  had  been  with  her 
for  so  short  and  blissful  a  moment. 

At  one  time  it  was  planned  to  destroy  the 
Bab  by  secret  assassination.  The  authorities 

30 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

did  not  dare  venture  upon  a  public  execution, 
because  the  True  One  had  won  a  position  of 
such  dignity,  through  his  wisdom  and  beauty 
of  character,  that  this  did  not  seem  to  be  ad- 
visable, the  shock  to  public  feeling  would  be 
too  great.  So  the  arrangement  was  made  that 
his  house  should  be  entered  on  a  certain  date 
by  a  band  of  apparent  thieves  who  would  de- 
stroy him.  After  his  cruel  death  the  govern- 
ment would  decently  regret  the  distressing 
event. 

The  date  for  this  catastrophe  was  ap- 
pointed, but  suddenly  cholera  broke  out  with 
such  violence  that  all  fled  from  the  town.  The 
Bab  also  took  his  departure,  and  as  a  result 
was  protected  for  some  time  by  the  governor 
of  Isfahan,  Meu'temed  ed  Dowleh,  who  be- 
came a  believer,  and  might  have  kept  the  True 
One  in  concealment  still  longer,  but  he  died 
suddenly,  and  his  nephew  who  succeeded  him 
was  amazed  to  discover  w^hom  his  uncle  had 
been  harboring.  He  demanded  of  Aghassi  what 
should  be  done  with  the  Bab.  The  Vizier  was 
the  implacable  foe  of  the  great  teacher,  and 
knowing  his  eloquence  and  charm  was  deter- 
mined that  the  Shah  should  not  come  in  con- 
tact with  him,  so  he  sent  him  from  place  to 
place  on  one  excuse  or  another. 

He   appeared   before   various    councils,   was 

31 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

insulted  and  questioned,  but  invariably  aston- 
ished his  persecutors  by  the  calm,  and  the  per- 
fect illumination,  with  which  he  met  both 
cruelty  and  inquiry.  On  one  occasion  he  was 
asked : 

"What  do  you  mean  by  the  Bab?" 

He  replied: 

"Have  you  not  heard  the  statement,  'I  am 
the  city  of  knowledge,  and  Ali  is  its  gate'?" 

As  these  were  Mohammed's  words  in  regard 
to  Ali,  his  successor,  and  the  Bab's  interlocutor 
was  one  of  the  Mohammedan  clergy,  no  farther 
comments  were  necessary. 

Again  he  had  been  speaking  with  supreme 
inspiration,  and  used  the  words  ear,  eye,  in  the 
singular.  Mullah  Mohammed  interrupted  him 
with  the  query: 

"Why  do  you  say  'eye'  and  'ear'  when  we 
have  two  eyes  and  two  ears?" 

"Oh,  my  soul,  that  means  you  must  listen !" 
was  the  response.  "Open  the  ear  of  thy  heart, 
and  comprehend  God !" 

Another  asked  him  jeeringly: 

"Who  was  it  wished  you  good  morning,  and 
gave  you  the  title  of  Bab?" 

"I  am  that  one  for  whom  you  have  waited 
a  thousand  years,"  replied  the  True  One. 

"And  by  what  can  we  recognize  you,"  pro- 
ceeded the  interrogator. 

32 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"By  my  inspired  utterance,"  said  the  pris- 
oner with  imperturbable  calm. 

Thereupon  his  investigators  demanded  that 
he  should  improvise  upon  some  subject,  and 
when  he  did  so,  they  exclaimed: 

"But  we  do  not  understand  anything  that 
you  say !" 

Then  the  inspired  one  declared:  "Whence 
were  you  able  to  comprehend  that  the  Koran  is 
the  word  of  God?  That  which  you  say  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  you  should  repeat  here!" 

He  was  condemned  at  length  to  incarcera- 
tion in  the  fortress  of  Makou.  Its  governor 
had  heard  much  of  the  Bab's  teachings,  and 
had  wondered  at  them.  Wherever  the  True  One 
went,  in  spite  of  his  persecution,  and  the  diffi- 
culties thrown  in  his  way,  in  spite  of  the  public 
scorn  and  vile  accusations  of  the  clergy,  con- 
versions multiplied  in  constant  and  unexplain- 
able  fashion. 

Ali  Khan  Makoui  had  weighed  the  words 
that  had  been  repeated  to  him.  He  sympa- 
thized heartily  with  the  Bab's  thunderings 
against  the  corruption  and  abuses  of  the  age, 
yet  he  feared  to  put  faith  in  him,  lest  he  might 
prove  an  impostor. 

When  the  Bab  arrived  at  the  fortress,  which 
was  perched  upon  a  mountain  difficult  of  ac- 
cess, he  asked  immediately  for  permission  to 

33 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

go  to  the  public  baths.  He  was  always  immacu- 
late in  his  person,  and  scrupulous  in  bathing, 
and  in  his  writings  are  many  injunctions  to 
his  followers  that  they  resist  the  filthy  habits 
of  the  unregenerate  man.  He  craved  at  this 
moment  the  refreshment  of  the  bath  after  his 
tedious  and  dusty  journey. 

The  governor  had  in  his  stables  a  young 
horse  so  vicious  and  dangerous  that  no  one 
could  ride  him.  It  was  in  fact  perilous  to  ap- 
proach him,  and  almost  impossible  to  put  sad- 
dle and  bridle  upon  him.  The  idea  flashed  into 
the  mind  of  the  governor  that  he  should  offer 
the  Bab  this  charger. 

"If  he  mounts  him,  and  reduces  him  to 
docility,"  reflected  Ali  Khan,  "I  shall  take  it 
as  a  sign  from  God  that  I  am  to  recognize  him 
as  the  Promised  One  whom  he  claims  to  be.  If 
on  the  contrary  he  is  thrown  and  killed  in  his 
struggle  with  the  beast,  the  State  will  be  easily 
rid  of  a  bad  man,  who  is  only  a  false  prophet 
guilty  of  deluding  his  fellow  men." 

It  required  several  men  to  accouter  the 
horse,  and  conduct  him  to  the  entrance  of  the 
bath.  The  attendant  explained  that  the  gov- 
ernor wished  to  save  his  guest  the  fatigue  of 
climbing  the  hill,  and  had  sent  his  own  steed 
with  a  little  escort  to  do  him  honor. 

The  Bab  approached  the  creature  which  was 

34 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

rearing  and  prancing  in  rage  at  the  compul- 
sion that  had  been  put  upon  him.  The  stallion 
paused  trembling,  as  the  Bab  caressed  its 
quivering  head,  and  spoke  to  it  with  extreme 
kindness.  After  a  moment  the  Bab  commanded 
the  groom  to  release  the  bridle.  He  mounted 
the  beautiful  animal  and  rode  away  with  the 
utmost  ease.  In  fact  the  tradition  of  the 
event  recalls  that  the  horse  sweat  profusely  in 
his  effort  at  absolute  gentleness  in  bearing  this 
loving  burden. 

A  crowd  of  people  who  had  watched  the  re- 
sult of  the  experiment,  knowing  the  horse  and 
divining  the  governor's  intention,  rushed  into 
the  bath  house  and  secured  in  various  recept- 
acles the  water  in  which  the  True  One  had 
bathed,  while  those  who  were  too  late  to  obtain 
this,  wiped  up  the  remaining  moisture  with 
towels,  and  preserved  them  as  relics. 

The  governor,  meanwhile,  what  must  have 
been  his  feelings  when  he  saw  his  prisoner  ap- 
proaching, his  furious  charger  reduced  to  the 
submissive  temper  of  a  lady's  pony?  He  fell 
at  the  feet  of  the  True  One,  and  confessed  his 
faith  to  him,  declaring  that  he  was  his  faith- 
ful servant  for  all  time.  The  Bab  remained  in 
the  fortress  for  nine  months  in  comparative 
freedom,  receiving  all  who  came.  He  wrote 
much,  and  conducted  an  enormous  correspond- 

35 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ence,  and  the  sojourn  must  have  offered  a  wel- 
come respite  to  the  hunted  and  persecuted 
saviour  of  his  kind. 

One  great  word  which  reappeared  con- 
stantly in  the  teaching  of  the  Bab,  and  which 
lends  its  color  with  even  more  positive  decision 
to  the  utterances  of  Baha  Ullah  and  Abdul 
Baha,  is  that  of  unity.  The  degenerate  fol- 
lowers of  Mohammed,  like  the  degenerate 
Christians,  had  become  purely  partisan ;  each 
considering  his  own  religion  the  only  true  one 
was  eager  to  send  missionaries  with  sword  or 
book  to  convert  the  world,  and  each  was  con- 
vinced that  only  his  particular  cult  could 
save  the  soul.  The  Bab  cried  aloud  the  truth 
that  all  the  sublime  prophets  of  God  are  re- 
vcalers  of  his  light.  Moses  and  Zoroaster, 
Christ  and  Mohammed  have  led  mankind  to 
God,  and  all  have  been  inspired  by  the  same 
divine  breath  of  the  Infinite  One. 

Each  prophet  who  comes  builds  upon  the 
foundation  of  his  predecessor,  and  brings  to  a 
greater  clearness  the  conception  of  God  in  the 
human  consciousness,  so  the  latest  message  is 
necessarily  the  most  complete,  though  each 
possesses  the  same  essentials,  and  all  lead  to 
God.  Thus  the  Bab  recognized  the  sacred 
books  of  the  world  as  divinely  inspired.  The 
Bible,  the  Koran,  the  Rig  Veda,  the  Zend 

36 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Avesta  were  all  a  part  of  the  golden  flood  of 
heavenly  knowledge  given  to  tne  world  to 
create  in  the  mind  of  man  a  true  and  reverent 
conception  of  the  ethereal  and  loving  spirit 
that  is  behind  all  being.  So  the  Bab  regarded 
his  own  appearance  as  a  fulfillment  of  prophe- 
cies not  only  in  the  Koran,  but  in  the  Zend 
Avesta  and  the  ancient  Hindu  scriptures,  as 
well  as  in  the  Bible.  He  believed  his  mission 
was  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world,  and 
that  the  coming  of  the  wonderful  day  of  God 
he  heralded  had  been  foretold  by  divine  mes- 
sengers in  many  languages. 

His  conception  of  God  was  exceedingly 
lofty.  He  revealed  the  Creator  as  pure  spirit, 
manifested  in  all  things,  but  also  hidden  in  his 
unmanifested  essence,  which  is  quite  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  ordinary  mortals.  But  to 
advance,  man  must  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of 
God,  and  therefore  the  prophets  or  manifesta- 
tions of  God  have  lived  as  pure  mirrors  every- 
where, reflecting  the  light  of  the  mighty  central 
sun.  The  minds  of  men  in  their  turn  receiving 
the  radiance  of  these  lovely  mirrors  become 
filled  with  the  true  conception  of  God,  and 
having  once  accepted  the  vital  imprint  of 
truth,  grow  in  grace  and  add  their  touch  to 
the  increasing  stature  of  spiritual  manhood. 

Civilization  is  thus  the  result  of  the  applied 

37 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

knowledge  of  God  that  the  different  prophets 
have  brought  to  the  universe,  for  whether  or 
not  one  yields  faith  to  them,  they  have  been 
among  all  nations  the  enlighteners  of  the  earth, 
the  brilliant  torches  of  progress  so  far  in  ad- 
vance of  their  contemporaries  that  almost  in- 
variably they  have  been  martyred  for  the  truth 
they  proclaimed. 

In  later  ages  it  often  happens  that  the  inde- 
pendent thinker  is  more  filled  with  the  spirit 
of  the  original  message  than  its  theology  build- 
ing upholder,  so  that  Voltaire  was  as  deeply 
indebted  to  Christ  as  Calvin,  and  Galileo  was 
nearer  to  the  divine  source  of  wisdom  than  the 
church  which  condemned  him  as  a  heretic. 

The  writings  of  the  Bab  were  numerous, 
considering  his  short  mission,  and  are,  of 
course,  the  result  of  the  leisure  rising  from  his 
continued  confinement.  Among  these  the 
Beyan,  or  Clear  Exposition  is  most  remark- 
able, and  together  with  the  Seven  Proofs  is 
most  generally  read.  None  of  his  books  have 
yet  been  translated  into  western  languages,  so 
that  we  are  obliged  to  depend  upon  the  slight 
transcripts  that  have  been  granted  us  by 
Arabic  and  Persian  scholars  for  an  opinion  of 
them. 

Besides  these  important  volumes  however, 
there  is  a  mass  of  wonderful  letters,  prayers, 

33 


THE    SHINING    PATHWAY 

and  addresses,  all  illuminating  and  only  less 
remarkable  in  character  than  the  production  of 
Baha  Ullah.  Many  of  the  Bab's  letters  are 
exceedingly  vivid  and  eloquent,  and  attest  not 
only  his  vital  inspiration,  but  that  sensitive- 
ness and  feeling  which  so  endeared  him  to  all 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Here  is  one : 

"Oh,  thou  who  art  sorrowful!  I  have  read 
thy  letter,  and  thy  sorrow  and  thy  tears  have 
filled  me  with  grief!  But  as  I  am  to-day  in 
Paradise,  I  obey  the  command  of  God  and  say : 
Glory  to  God  who  has  protected  me  from  tor- 
ment !  This  God  is  sublime,  and  beyond  all  the 
qualities  which  men  could  attribute  to  him! 

"Now  thou  also,  even  as  I,  glorify  God,  who 
has  kept  thee  also  from  torment!  In  truth! 
Our  God  is  he  who  pardons,  he  who  is  the 
provider!  Now,  oh,  man,  do  not  be  distressed 
by  anything,  for  thy  distress  affects  me!  Do 
not  weep  for  anything,  for  thy  tears  cause 
mine  to  flow,  and  henceforth  I  can  give  thee 
no  orders,  for  I  love  thee!  Be  now  firm  in 
obedience  to  God ;  In  truth  thou  art  firm  in 
the  friendship  of  God.  Be  patient  in  the  mis- 
fortunes that  assail  thee,  for  what  thou  seest 
is  the  way  of  fortune.  It  is  not  extraordinary 
that  such  torments  assail  the  friends  of  God, 
it  is  not  strange  that  men  gather  to  the  name 
of  him  who  is  the  cause  of  the  creation  of  all, 

39 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

who  is  the  Primitive  Will  himself,  the  name  of 
Maha  Viya.  Fie  upon  fortune!  Fie  upon 
fortune !" 

Another  written  at  Makou  to  the  father  of 
A.  Sejed  Houssein,  is  very  touching.  The  lat- 
ter was  the  secretary  of  the  Bab,  who  was  con- 
demned to  execution  with  his  beloved  master, 
but  feigned  a  recantation  of  his  faith  at  the 
last  moment,  according  to  the  Bab's  wish,  in 
order  to  write  an  account  of  his  last  hours,  for 
the  consolation  of  the  bereaved  friends  of  the 
cause.  The  communication  runs  as  follows: 

"In  truth  I  have  read  the  letter  which  thou 
hast  sent  to  thy  son.  May  God  recompense  thee 
for  thy  great  sorrow,  and  for  thy  great  pa- 
tience in  this  sorrow!  May  God  increase  thy 
patience !  And  as  for  me,  because  I  love  death, 
I  say  for  you  these  four  verses : 

"Oh,  Death,  thou  who  permittest  none  to 
escape,  come  and  deliver  me  also  from  the  diffi- 
culties of  this  world ! 

Thou  art,  O  Death,  the  one  who  has  taken 
all  my  friends ! 

Truly  it  is  in  thee  that  I  see  the  safety  of 
all  those  who  love  me ! 

O  Death,  ever  thou  dost  turn  towards  one  of 
my  friends  as  if  some  one  had  pointed  him  out 
to  thee !" 

40 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

The  remainder  of  the  epistle  is  filled  with 
those  tender  and  intimate  details  which  one 
addresses  only  to  the  beloved.  It  had  been  in- 
spired by  news  of  the  death  of  a  son  and 
brother,  in  his  secretary's  family,  and  shows 
how  clearly  the  Bab  felt  the  deprivation  of 
each  one  in  the  family  circle  at  the  loss  of  this 
cherished  member. 

Some  of  the  Bab's  writings,  while  in  the  fort- 
ress of  Makou,  were  almost  pathetic  in  their 
recognition  of  the  oppression  that  must  follow 
the  illumination  that  enveloped  him,  and  ren- 
dered his  earthly  pilgrimage  so  difficult.  He 
says  in  one  passage : 

"The  fruit  of  religion  is  to  believe  in  the 
manifestation  of  the  Bab,  and  they  have  im- 
prisoned him  at  Makou!" 

He  says  again  that  all  had  much  respect 
for  him  while  he  remained  a  simple  gentleman, 
but  heaped  insults  and  scorn  upon  him  as  soon 
as  he  became  a  Manifestation  of  God ! 

He  reproaches  the  Mohammedans  that  they 
expected  the  coming  of  the  Mahdi  with  such 
impatience,  and  imprisoned  him  as  soon  as  he 
appeared ! 

In  another  curious  passage  he  pities  the 
Mohammedans  who  refuse  to  recognize  him, 
"because,"  he  declares,  "in  your  eagerness  to 
serve  God  you  flout  and  distress  Him!" 

41 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

He  goes  on,  speaking  of  God  in  his  own 
person,  but  not  in  blasphemy,  as  one  might 
imagine  at  first.  He  speaks  thus  in  that  recog- 
nition of  the  spirit  of  illumination  upon  him 
which  led  Christ  to  say: 

"I  and  the  Father  are  one."  "There  is  no 
other  way  to  the  Father  save  through  Me." 

The  Bab  continues:  "In  spite  of  the  utter- 
ances which  distill  from  My  power,  and  the 
treasure  of  which  rests  in  this  person,  the  Bab, 
in  spite  of  the  utterances  which  issue  from  his 
lips  only  by  My  permission,  behold,  with  no 
shadow  of  right,  you  have  immured  him  on  the 
summit  of  a  mountain  the  inhabitants  of  which 
are  not  even  worthy  to  quote  them !  Near  him, 
that  is  near  Me,  is  no  one,  not  even  one  of  the 
Letters  of  Life  of  My  book.  Besides  his  two 
hands,  which  are  My  hands,  he  has  not  a  single 
attendant  to  light  his  lamp  for  him  at  night, 
and  behold,  the  men  of  the  earth  have  been 
created  solely  for  his  existence;  it  is  by  his 
generosity  that  they  are  full  of  joy,  and  they 
do  not  give  him  one  light !" 

Again  his  sense  of  exaltation  drives  away  the 
consciousness  of  suffering,  and  he  says : 

"All  that  belongs  to  the  man  of  Paradise  is 
in  Paradise.  This  solitary  chamber  (in  which 
I  am)  and  which  has  not  even  a  door,  is  to-day 

42 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

the  greatest  of  the  gardens  of  Paradise,  for 
the  tree  of  truth  is  planted  there,  all  the  atoms 
which  compose  it  cry:  'In  truth  there  is  no 
other  God  than  God !  In  truth  I  am  God,  and 
there  is  no  other  God  than  Me,  the  Master  of 
the  Universe !'  " 

He  says  in  his  letter  to  the  Shah,  which  he 
begins  with  his  customary  exalted  praise  of 
divine  unity : 

"And  now  let  me  tell  you  a  secret,  this  man 
has  imprisoned  in  my  person  all  the  prophets, 
all  the  saints,  and  all  that  the  knowledge  of 
God  has  embraced,  and  there  is  no  sin  of  any 
degree  under  which  I  have  not  groaned!" 

Again  he  says :  "As  for  me,  I  am  that  point 
of  God  whence  all  that  exists  has  found  ex- 
istence. I  am  that  face  of  God  which  dies  not, 
I  am  that  light  which  is  never  extinguished. 
He  who  recognizes  me  is  accompanied  by  all 
good,  he  who  repulses  me  has  behind  him  all 
of  evil." 

"The  light  of  God  which  shone  upon  the 
mountain  for  Moses  is  my  light,"  he  declares 
farther.  He  discusses  the  passage  of  the 
Koran  in  which  the  return  of  the  Imaum  is 
foretold.  It  is  the  fourth  verse  of  the  thirty- 
second  chapter,  and  runs : 

"God  conducts  the  affairs  of  the  world  from 
heaven  to  earth,  then  recalls  all  to  himself  for 

43 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

a  day,  the  duration  of  which  is  a  thousand 
years  of  our  computation." 

This  closing  of  the  gate  of  knowledge  was 
in  260  of  the  Mohammedan  era,  when  the 
twelfth  Imaum  disappeared,  and  the  Bab 
quotes  the  question  of  Moufazzl  who  de- 
manded when  the  Mahdi  would  arise,  and  the 
answer  of  the  Imaum,  who  replied:  "He  will 
manifest  in  the  JGSHC  60,  and  his  name  will  be 
a  great  one." 

This,  of  course,  indicates  the  often  repeated 
year  of  1260,  corresponding  to  our  date  of 
1844,  which  was  that  of  the  Bab's  manifesta- 
tion. 

One  of  the  most  touching  of  these  utter- 
ances is  that  in  which  he  speaks  of  his  coming 
successor,  the  Glory  of  God;  "I  am  only  the 
suggestion  of  what  he  will  be,"  he  says,  "and 
may  the  followers  of  my  Beyan  not  persecute 
him  as  the  followers  of  the  Koran  have  perse- 
cuted me !" 


CHAPTER  III. 


While  the   Bab  was  imprisoned   in  the  fort- 
ress  of  Makou  liis   faith  spread   tumultuously 

44 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

through  Persia,  and  the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
poured  copious  floods  in  demonstration  of  the 
ardor  with  which  they  accepted  his  teachings. 
It  is  not  within  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to 
describe  the  horrors  which  took  place  at 
Mazanderan,  or  Zendjan,  or  even  the  atrocities 
that  were  inflicted  upon  the  Babis  in  general 
in  the  effort  to  turn  them  from  their  faith. 

Bouchrouyehi  had  been  sent  to  the  province 
of  Mazanderan,  and  prosecuted  his  missionary 
work  there  so  vigorously  that  presently  the 
entire  community  was  aflame.  The  people 
took  arms  in  defense  of  their  faith  and  for  a 
long  time  resisted  the  soldiers  of  the  Shah  that 
were  marched  against  them.  Civil  war  raged, 
indeed,  until  at  length  Bouchrouyehi,  the  Bab- 
el-bab  fell,  and  the  slaughter  had  reached  such 
an  enormous  figure  that  peace  reigned  from 
pure  inability  to  struggle  longer.  Meanwhile 
it  is  said  that  no  Babi  ever  recanted,  and  the 
"Friends"  as  the  followers  of  the  Bab  called 
themselves,  sought  death  so  fearlessly  that  the 
troopers  of  the  Shah  could  scarcely  be  induced 
to  combat  them.  They  came  to  be  regarded 
as  invincible,  and  whenever  they  were  exe- 
cuted, even  with  the  most  horrible  tortures, 
their  joy  and  exaltation  were  so  manifest  that 
all  who  had  witnessed  their  destruction  de- 
manded knowledge  of  the  faith  which  elirni- 

45 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

nated  the  fear  of  death,  and  rendered  so  evi- 
dent the  presence  of  God. 

Mullah  Mohammed  Ali,  a  remarkable  man  in 
Zendjan,  was  a  leading  member  of  the  clergy 
there  who  took  the  title  of  Houdjet  ul  Islam. 
He  had  become  a  paramount  influence  in  the 
city,  and  when  so  much  was  repeated  of  the 
Bab's  strange  teachings,  he  despatched  one  of 
his  followers  to  the  True  One,  to  discover  the 
meaning  of  his  existence.  The  messenger  re- 
turned one  day  as  Houdjet  was  surrounded  by 
his  pupils,  and  bowing  low  delivered  a  letter 
from  the  Bab  which  he  had  carried  in  his 
breast.  His  master  took  it,  perused  it  with 
greatest  attention,  then  rising  cried,  "Allah  ou 
Akbar !"  and  seating  himself  again,  resumed 
his  lesson.  Presently,  however,  his  feeling  be- 
came irrepressible.  Starting  to  his  feet  he  de- 
clared once  more,  "Allah  ou  Akbar !"  and  turn- 
ing to  his  pupils  exclaimed: 

"It  would  be  a  shameful  thing  to  continue 
to  seek  a  proof  after  one  has  arrived  at  the 
end!  To  search  for  knowledge  when  one  is 
in  possession  of  his  object  is  a  waste  of  time! 
Close  your  books  for  the  master  is  risen! 
Hear  the  news  of  it !  The  sun  which  makes  our 
path  clear  has  appeared !  The  night  of  ignor- 
ance and  error  is  annihilated !" 

He  then  cast  aside  his  turban,  called  for  a 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

fresh  Koulah,  and  when  this  was  brought  him 
proceeded  to  adjust  it  upon  his  head,  while  he 
recited  in  a  loud  voice  the  prayer  for  Friday, 
which  must  replace  that  of  all  other  days  when 
the  Mahdi  has  revealed  himself. 

He  next  expatiated  upon  the  Bab  calling 
himself  the  most  humble  of  his  slaves. 

"My  knowledge  beside  his  is  like  a  candle 
extinguished  in  the  light  of  day,"  he  exclaimed, 
"Know  God  by  God,  and  the  sun  by  his  rays, 
for  to-day  the  Sahab  ez  Zeman  has  appeared, 
the  Sultan  of  possibilities  is  living!" 

One  can  imagine  that  after  so  enthusiastic 
a  conversion  Houdjet  lost  no  time  in  shar- 
ing his  truth  with  his  townspeople,  and  they 
accepted  it  with  the  same  eagerness  their 
teacher  had  displayed.  Shortly  afterwards  the 
Bab  passed  near  Zendjan  on  his  way  to  Makou, 
and  Houdjet  wrote  him  begging  for  an  inter- 
view, and  also  for  permission  to  rescue  him 
from  his  guards.  The  True  One  refused  both 
requests,  but  comforted  his  follower  with  the 
assurance  that  very  soon  they  would  both 
meet  in  the  other  world. 

The  very  day  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter 
Houdjet  ul  Islam  was  seized  by  the  Shah's 
guards,  and  transported  to  Teheran,  which, 
for  him,  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  He  had 
previously  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Shah, 

47 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

for  the  clergy  of  Zend j  an  had  complained  of 
his  radicalism,  and  he  had  been  obliged  to  ex- 
plain his  views  to  his  royal  master.  At  that 
time  he  had  charmed  the  Shah  by  the  frank 
expression  of  his  illuminated  criticism  upon 
the  shortcomings  of  the  Mohammedan  clergy, 
and  their  grasping  love  of  money.  The  Shah 
had  sent  him  home  on  that  occasion  with  a  full 
pardon,  but  now  affairs  were  sadly  different. 
He  had  stirred  a  dangerous  hubbub  in  his  city 
over  this  strange  heresy  of  the  Bab,  and  in 
order  to  avoid  absolute  confinement  in  prison 
he  was  obliged  to  give  the  Shah  his  promise 
that  he  would  not  escape. 

This  situation  was  relieved  for  Houdjet  by 
the  death  of  the  Shah,  and  by  the  appointment 
of  a  new  governor  for  Zend  Jan.  Feeling  that 
his  parole  did  not  hold  with  the  new  govern- 
ment, Mullah  Mohammed  Ali  departed  for 
Zendjan,  where  he  was  received  with  a  tumultu- 
ous ovation.  The  insurrection  of  Mazanderan 
had  roused  all  hearts,  and  the  Babis  everywhere 
were  ready  to  join  their  besieged  companions 
and  fight  with  them  for  freedom  of  faith. 

Houdjet  would  not  permit  this,  and  did  his 
utmost  to  preserve  peace,  but  in  the  tense  at- 
mosphere of  the  moment,  it  seemed  impossible. 
An  accidental  brawl  resulting  in  the  serious 
wounding  of  a  Mohammedan  precipitated  the 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

conflict,  and  the  streets  of  Zend j  an,  like  those 
of  the  villages  in  Mazanderan,  ran  with  blood. 
The  Shah  sent  his  troops  against  the  fated 
city,  under  the  leadership  of  Ferrouk  Khan, 
one  of  his  favorite  princes.  This  brilliant 
young  man  was  slain  by  a  half  insane  old 
woman  after  he  had  been  taken  prisoner,  and 
the  Shah's  anger  at  the  sacrifice  gave  counten- 
ance to  every  imaginable  cruelty. 

Houdjet  was  taken  by  surprise  by  a  platoon 
of  soldiers  and  killed  in  the  house  where  he 
was  sheltered  with  a  handful  of  followers. 
Those  who  remained  buried  his  body  with  the 
utmost  care,  that  no  trace  of  its  existence 
might  reveal  the  place  of  sepulture,  but  the 
Mohammedans  were  determined  to  discover  it, 
and  shame  the  believers  by  its  mutilation. 

In  the  pursuit  of  this  purpose  they  sub- 
jected the  survivors  to  horrible  tortures,  for 
instance,  one  martyr  had  boiling  oil  poured 
upon  his  head,  but  his  silence  remained  invio- 
late. At  length  a  child  of  seven  years  was  se- 
cured, who  knew  the  secret,  and  it  was  drawn 
from  him  by  cajolement  and  deceit.  Then  the 
body  of  Houdjet  was  dragged  from  its  place 
of  repose,  paraded  through  the  blighted  city, 
until  every  abuse  and  ignominy  had  been  in- 
flicted upon  it.  Finally  its  shattered  remnants 
were  thrown  to  the  dogs,  but  the  courageous 

49 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"friends"  who  had  watched  it  all  with  tor- 
tured eyes,  gathered  them  together,  and  pre- 
served them  as  sacred  relics.  In  the  orgy  of 
blood  which  resulted  from  this  sacrifice  the  de- 
voted Babis  were  shot  down,  or  bayoneted  by 
hundreds,  and  it  became  a  familiar  sight  to  see 
a  company  of  these  innocent  people  slaugh- 
tered one  by  one  or  in  mass,  as  the  commander 
of  the  Mohammedan  troop  saw  fit  to  decide. 

Meanwhile  the  people  who  looked  on,  and 
frequently  took  no  part  in  the  massacre,  said 
to  one  another: 

"But  why  should  they  murder  these  poor 
Babis?  They  believe  that  the  Imaum  has 
come.  Well,  we  believe  it  is  time  for  him  to 
arrive,  and  perhaps  it  is  true  that  he  is  here !" 

So  the  very  means  taken  to  hinder  the 
growth  of  the  movement  hastened  its  spread, 
and  the  on-lookers  who  did  not  become  drunken 
with  blood  caught  the  ecstasy  of  the  martyred 
ones,  and  adopted  their  faith. 

One  remarkable  part  of  the  Bab's  teaching 
was  that  death  did  not  separate  the  souls  of 
the  believers  from  their  previous  scene  of  ac- 
tion, but  only  increased  their  power. 

"All  those  who  work  for  this  great  cause," 
he  declared,  "will  continue  to  do  so  whether 
they  are  in  the  body  or  out  of  it.  If  they  are 
martyred  they  will  attach  themselves  to  those 

50 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

who  can  best  receive  their  influence,  and  the 
power  of  these  will  be  doubled  or  quadrupled 
by  this  dynamic  assistance  of  those  who  have 
already  left  the  scene  of  outward  action." 

The  followers  of  the  Bab  therefore  watched 
their  companions  and  themselves  after  a  terrible 
martyrdom,  convinced  that  their  mighty 
struggle  would  receive  a  fresh  impetus  from 
the  souls  of  the  departed.  Naturally  death 
lost  all  terrors  for  them.  They  knew  that  in 
reality  there  is  no  such  thing  as  death,  and  in 
the  ecstasy  of  martyrdom  clairvoyance  and 
prophecy  became  frequent  phenomena.  To 
them  the  mysterious  change  to  another  plane 
of  existence  merely  enhanced  the  intensity  of 
life. 

Meanwhile  Houdjet  and  Bouchrouyehi,  the 
Bab-el-bab,  had  given  up  their  lives  for  the 
cause,  and  the  Bab  himself  was  executed  at 
Tabriz,  on  the  morning  of  July  8,  1850. 
Thus  the  inspired  leader  of  the  movement,  and 
his  most  important  disciples  were  gone,  and  it 
must  have  looked  to  the  Persian  authorities 
as  if  the  strange  excitement  over  him  who 
claimed  to  be  the  Mahdi,  would  come  to  an 
end.  They  forgot,  however,  how  completely 
the  True  One  had  rested  his  teaching  on  the 
fact  that  he  was  merely  the  Herald  of  Him 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

whom  God  shall  Manifest,  Baha  Ullah,  the 
Glory  of  God. 

Again  and  again  he  said,  "I  am  a  letter  out 
of  that  most  mighty  book;  a  dewdrop  from 
that  limitless  ocean,  and  when  He  shall  appear 
my  true  nature,  my  mysteries,  riddles,  and 
intimations  will  become  evident,  and  the  em- 
bryo of  this  religion  will  develop  through  all 
the  grades  of  its  being,  and  ascent,  attain  the 
most  comely  of  forms,  and  become  endowed 
Avith  the  robe  of  Blessed  be  God,  the  Best  of 
Creators !"  The  entire  Beyan  revolves  around 
the  prediction  of  "Him  whom  God  shall  Mani- 
fest" and  "The  Beyan  and  such  as  are  believ- 
ers yearn  more  after  Him  than  the  yearning  of 
any  lover  after  his  beloved !" 

In  spite  of  dire  persecutions  visited  upon 
the  "friends"  the  teaching  of  the  Bab  con- 
tinued to  spread  with  miraculous  swiftness  in 
the  period  before  his  death,  and  the  Shah 
querulously  called  the  attention  of  his  Vizier  to 
this  fact,  saying: 

"It  is  all  the  fault  of  Aghassi.  He  sent  the 
Bab  to  Makou  instead  of  bringing  him  here, 
before  a  tribunal,  as  my  father  wished.  If 
that  had  been  done,  his  foolishness  would  have 
been  demonstrated  long  ago." 

The  Vizier  responded :  "The  words  of  kings 
are  the  kings  of  words !"  and  from  that  mo- 

52 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ment  the  execution  of  the  Bab  was  decided 
upon,  though  it  has  been  said  that  here  as  on 
the  previous  occasion  the  Vizier  acted  without 
the  authority  of  his  master.  The  Shah  wished 
to  see  the  Bab,  the  Vizier  feared  his  magnetic 
contact  with  the  head  of  the  state,  so  he  was 
removed  to  the  fortress  of  Chirik,  and  then,  in- 
stead of  being  brought  to  Teheran,  he  was  car- 
ried to  Tabriz  and  executed. 

Before  this  dolorous  event  transpired,  how- 
ever, the  True  One  was  paraded  about  the 
town,  led  shamefully  in  procession  through  the 
principal  streets,  in  an  endeavor  to  render  the 
holiest  and  most  illuminated  being  in  the  world 
an  abject  and  criminal  spectacle. 

The  night  before  his  martyrdom  the  Bab  had 
spent  in  prayer  with  the  twro  devoted  friends 
who  were  to  be  executed  with  him,  A.  Seyed 
Houssein,  and  Mullah  Mohammed  Yezdi.  In 
order  that  the  afflicted  remnant  of  followers 
might  be  comforted  in  his  loss,  the  True  One 
arranged  with  Seyed  Houssein  that  he  should 
appear  to  retract  on  the  way  to  the  place  of 
punishment,  and  thus  being  reprieved,  could 
write  for  the  world  the  commands  of  the  Be- 
loved One,  and  the  story  of  his  last  hours. 

The  Bab,  six  months  before,  had  transmit- 
ted to  a  faithful  follower  a  letter  marked  "To 
be  opened  when  you  have  suffered  a  great  af- 

53 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

fliction."  When  the  execution  was  made  known 
the  seal  was  broken  and  the  contents  revealed 
a  prediction  of  the  author's  execution  at  Ta- 
briz on  the  day  of  the  fatality. 

The  melancholy  journey  to  the  hill  of  exe- 
cution was  varied  by  attempts  to  win  the  de- 
nial of  their  faith  by  the  Bab's  two  compan- 
ions, and  Seyed  Houssein  apparently  yielded. 
But  he  sought  martyrdom  later  in  Teheran, 
and  thus  proved  his  courage  and  his  abiding 
love  for  the  True  One. 

Nothing  shook  the  determination  of  Mullah 
Mohammed  Yezdi,  however.  When  the  little 
party  arrived  at  the  fatal  hill,  his  wife  and 
children  were  brought  to  him,  but  he  refused 
to  listen  to  them,  asking  only  that  he  might 
be  shot  before  his  beloved  leader.  This  re- 
quest, of  course,  was  not  granted,  but  though 
his  executioners  were  not  clement,  a  higher 
power  was  more  so,  as  will  be  seen. 

It  may  be  recalled  that  one  of  the  titles 
which  the  glorious  re-incarnated  Imaum  must 
traditionally  bear  was  that  of  Sahab-ez  Zeman, 
the  Master  of  Time,  and  this  had  never  been 
given  the  Bab.  Strange  to  say,  it  became  his 
at  the  moment  of  execution,  for  the  mount  upon 
which  he  was  shot  to  death  was  called  the  Place 
of  the  Sahab-ez-Zcman.  The  unbelievers  had 
constantly  reverted  to  the  fact  that  he  did  not 

54 


.   THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

claim  this  name,  yet  it  must  always  be  asso- 
ciated with  him  through  the  dramatic  events 
of  his  passing.  It  is  a  symbol  of  the  Twelfth 
Imaum. 

The  Bab  and  Mullah  Mohammed  were  sus- 
pended to  the  Avail  by  ropes,  and  a  regiment 
of  Christian  soldiers  was  drawn  up  to  fire  upon 
them,  so  that  a  thousand  bullets  assailed  them 
at  once.  The  body  of  Mullah  Mohammed  was 
riddled  with  shot,  but  he  turned  his  head 
toward  the  True  One,  and  asked,  to  the  amaze- 
ment of  all,  in  a  perfectly  audible  voice: 

"Master,  are  you   content  with  me?" 

The  True  One,  however,  had  not  been 
touched  by  one  of  the  thousand  bullets.  The 
cords  that  bound  him  to  the  wall  were  cut, 
but  he  did  not  receive  a  wound.  He  fell  upon 
his  feet,  and  stood  smiling  at  the  soldiers  whose 
firearms  had  been  leveled  at  him  in  vain.  He 
made  no  attempt  to  fly,  though  he  could  easily 
have  escaped  in  the  shock  and  consternation 
of  this  miraculous  moment.  He  seemed  to 
say  to  his  executioners: 

"You  may  extinguish  the  Light,  but  not  un- 
til it  wishes  to  give  place  to  darkness !" 

At  the  command  of  the  officers  he  wras  seized 
and  bound  again,  but  the  soldiers  absolutely 
refused  to  fire  upon  him. 


55 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

"This  is  a  divine  man!"  they  cried.  "We 
will  do  him  no  harm !" 

The  officers  were  obliged  to  march  the  men 
away,  and  call  up  a  regiment  of  barbarians, 
who  knew  nothing  of  what  had  taken  place. 
So  at  length  the  tragedy  was  accomplished, 
and  again  the  True  One,  the  Liberator,  the 
Herald  of  Truth,  gave  his  body  as  a  sacrifice 
for  the  hearts  of  men ! 

The  physical  relics  of  the  Bab  were  thrown 
into  the  ditch  to  be  devoured  by  the  dogs,  but 
they  were  rescued  by  his  faithful  followers. 
Mohammed  Yezdi's  remnant  was  buried,  and 
that  of  the  Bab  preserved  in  the  house  of  Sou- 
leiman  Khan  in  Tabriz,  until  a  communication 
had  been  sent  to  Houssein  Ali  at  Teheran,  he 
who  later  became  Baha  Ullah.  According  to 
the  latter's  directions,  the  case  containing  the 
body  of  the  True  One  was  forwarded  to  Te- 
heran, and  was  finally  placed  in  the  favorite 
cemetery  of  the  Babis,  where  it  remained  for 
a  number  of  years,  then  Baha  Ullah,  who  was 
at  that  time  a  prisoner  at  Adrianople,  sent 
word  that  the  precious  relic  must  be  removed, 
and  soon  afterward  the  building  in  which  it 
had  been  secreted  was  destroyed,  so  that  the 
earthly  tenement  of  the  Bab  would  have  been 
lost  if  it  had  not  been  safeguarded  in  this 
clairvoyant  fashion.  The  body  lies  now  in  the 

56 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

simple  and  noble  tomb  on  Mount  Carmel, 
which  has  been  erected  by  Abdul  Baha,  and 
the  feet  of  many  pilgrims  turn  thither  from 
distant  lands  into  which  the  light  of  the  True 
One's  message  has  penetrated. 

There  is  a  glory  of  youth  about  the  tragic 
mission  of  the  Bab,  which,  from  the  human 
standpoint,  is  irresistible  and  compelling.  He 
was  but  twenty-five  years  old  when  he  gave 
his  announcement  that  a  new  Day  of  God  had 
dawned,  a  day  of  brotherhood  and  unity,  when 
all  men  shall  begin  to  love  one  another,  a  day 
of  Manifestation,  when  men  shall  again  learn 
to  know  God,  "and  I  am  the  Herald  of  this 
Day!" 

Courageous  and  loving  to  a  supreme  degree, 
the  spirit  of  God  upon  him  seemed  to  enhance 
the  splendor  of  his  youth,  to  intensify  the  ac- 
cent of  his  consecration.  He  was  two  years 
younger  than  Jesus  when  he  gave  his  life  in 
the  same  sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world,  declaring  himself  the  precursor  of  that 
wonderful  second  coming  so  long  expected. 
The  theologians  have  destroyed  the  beauty  of 
youth  in  Jesus,  but  its  radiance  will  always 
linger  upon  the  Bab,  wrho  will  be  remembered  as 
a  wonderful  illumined  boy  going  to  martyrdom 
with  a  smile  upon  his  lips ! 


57 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 


CHAPTER  IV. 

KURRET    UL   AINE. 

Among  the  many  women  who  accepted  the 
new  teaching  with  eager  hearts  none  has  won 
such  distinction  as  Zarrine  Tadj,  Crown  of 
Gold,  known  to  the  world  as  Kurret  ul  Aine. 
This  title,  which  means  Consolation  of  the 
Eyes,  she  was  given  on  account  of  the  extreme 
beauty  and  charm  which  were  her  portion. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Mullah  Saleh  Barra- 
kani  of  Casvine,  a  man  illustrious  in  learning 
and  wealth,  and  born  of  a  family  distinguished 
for  the  same  fortunate  possessions. 

From  her  infancy  Kurret  ul  Aine  was  nota- 
ble for  the  qualities  which  rendered  her  re- 
markable in  later  years.  She  received  such  an 
education  as  only  her  social  position  rendered 
possible  in  those  days,  and  became  famous,  not 
only  for  her  poems,  which  were  popularly  re- 
peated, but  for  her  unusual  learning  and  judg- 
ment. 

Thus,  though  obliged  to  submit  to  the  seclu- 
sion of  a  Mohammedan  woman  she  was  accus- 
tomed to  take  part  in  the  lessons  and  lectures 
of  her  learned  father  and  uncle,  and  would  sit 
in  a  hall  with  two  or  three  hundred  students^ 

58 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

protected  by  a  curtain.  From  the  shelter  of 
this  veil  she  did  not  hesitate  to  dispute  the  con- 
clusions of  her  accomplished  relatives,  and  she 
became  famous  throughout  Persia  for  her  dif- 
ferences with  the  mullahs,  who  frequently 
yielded  precedence  to  her,  and  adopted  her 
opinions. 

She  was  unique  among  her  conservative  con- 
nections for  her  ardent  independence,  and  her 
radical  views,  and  yet  she  was  so  loved  by  them 
all  that  they  never  dreamed  of  disputing  her 
right  to  think  as  she  pleased.  Marriage  did 
not  alter  her  position,  which  remained  supreme, 
and  it  was  natural  that  she  should  early  have 
become  interested  in  the  Proclamation  of  the 
True  One.  She  entered  into  correspondence 
with  him,  and  in  1848  frankly  confessed  her 
faith  in  him. 

With  her  spirit  and  courage  no  half  way 
measures  were  possible,  and  she  was  soon  one 
of  the  most  inspired  and  eloquent  teachers  of 
the  new  truth.  She  naturally  was  delighted 
with  the  declaration  of  the  True  One  that  the 
sexes  are  equal,  and  that  the  seclusion  of 
women  according  to  the  Mohammedan  custom 
is  wrong.  She  took  off  her  veil  therefore,  and 
went  about  freely  teaching  the  new  truth,  out- 
raging thereby  all  the  traditions  of  her  very 
honorable  family. 

59 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

When  a  woman  like  Kurret  ul  Aine  became 
convinced  of  the  injustice  endured  by  the 
women  of  the  faith  in  which  she  had  been 
reared,  she  would  stop  at  nothing  to  rouse 
them,  and  ameliorate  their  condition.  Natur- 
ally courageous  the  Bab's  teaching  in  regard 
to  death  and  the  other  world  made  her  long 
for  martyrdom,  and  only  the  position  of  her 
family  prevented  her  obtaining  this  crown  be- 
fore the  execution  of  the  Bab.  She  was  with 
Bouchrouyehi  in  Mazanderan,  and  was  closely 
associated  with  him  and  with  Khorassani  in  all 
their  work. 

She  became  famous  for  her  predictions  in  re- 
gard to  the  fate  of  various  eminent  public  men 
who  persecuted  the  Babis,  and  so  many  of 
these  were  almost  immediately  fulfilled  that  she 
was  looked  upon  as  infallible  in  such  clear  see- 
ing. Significant  in  this  way  was  her  prophecy 
of  her  uncle's  death.  Mullah  Taghi  Barrakani 
was  distinguished  for  his  literal  interpretation 
of  the  sacred  writings,  and  his  adherence  to 
the  mere  written  word  of  all  Mohammedan  tra- 
dition. He  was  especially  irritated  at  the  new 
freedom  of  his  niece,  and  her  adoption  of  the 
dangerous  heresy  of  the  Bab. 

The  prominent  position  of  the  Mullah  ren- 
dered him  at  once  a  protection  and  a  menace  to 
Kurret  ul  Aine.  After  one  of  her  teaching 

60 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

tours  in  which  she  had  roused  much  comment 
by  her  independent  speech  and  action,  he 
brought  her  to  her  father's  house,  and  gave 
her  to  understand  that  he  would  confine  her 
there  until  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  she 
would  be  more  prudent  in  her  conduct.  He  is- 
sued his  orders  to  the  servants  therefore  that 
she  should  not  be  permitted  to  leave  the  man- 
sion. 

He  sought  her  presence  meanwhile,  hoping 
by  argument  and  persuasion  to  recall  her  from 
her  dangerous  course.  He  was  doubly  irri- 
tated by  the  calm  with  which  she  listened  to 
his  angry  words,  and  the  sweet  wisdom  with 
which  she  answered  his  objections.  At  length 
unable  to  restrain  his  fury  he  turned  upon  her, 
and  cursed  the  True  One,  showering  insult 
upon  his  name.  Gazing  fixedly  upon  the  en- 
raged man  Kurret  ul  Aine  exclaimed: 

"How  unfortunate  you  are!  For  I  see  your 
mouth  fill  with  blood !" 

Mullah  Taghi  was  accustomed  to  rise  very 
early,  and  repeat  his  devotions  at  the  mosque 
at  an  hour  when  as  a  rule  there  was  but  one 
priest  in  attendance.  The  following  morning 
he  wended  his  way  as  usual  to  the  place  of 
prayer,  and  in  the  instant  of  crossing  the 
threshold  he  was  struck  upon  the  mouth  by  the 
lance  of  a  hidden  assailant.  The  attack  was 

61 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

followed  up  by  five  or  six  other  assassins  who 
sprang  at  him  furiously,  and  did  not  pause 
until  the  life  was  beaten  from  the  mangled 
body  of  the  famous  Mullah.  No  doubt  his  own 
injustice  and  tyranny  were  responsible  for  this 
tragic  death,  but  as  usual  the  strange  insight 
of  Kurret  ul  Aine  had  foreseen  its  coming. 
rBhe  assassination  removed  a  serious  obstacle 
from  her  pathway,  though  she  would  have  been 
the  last  to  wish  such  a  catastrophe. 

For  some  years  longer  Kurret  ul  Aine  pur- 
sued her  own  course  with  such  brilliant  results 
that  it  was  said  when  she  addressed  an  audi- 
ence upon  the  Revelation  of  the  Bab,  all  were 
immediately  converted  to  her  faith.  Her  elo- 
quence and  magnetic  force  were  so  pronounced 
that  sometimes  women  were  carried  out  faint- 
ing from  the  assemblage  where  she  spoke,  and 
men  broke  down  and  sobbed. 

The  story  of  her  martyrdom  is  very  touch- 
ing. She  was  an  exceedingly  feminine  person 
in  spite  of  her  power,  extremely  gentle,  and 
possessed  of  an  alluring  charm  that  rendered 
her  irresistible.  It  was  at  length  decided  to 
confine  her  in  the  house  of  Mahmond  Khan, 
Kalantcr  of  Casvine.  Here  she  remained  a 
long  time,  receiving  numerous  visits  from  both 
men  and  women.  The  latter  she  pleased  in- 
variably, and  left  upon  them  an  indelible  im- 

62 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

pression  of  the  dignity  and  freedom  the  new 
religion  imparted  to  women.  In  her  discus- 
sions with  the  husbands  also  she  talked  much 
of  the  improved  position  of  women,  and  al- 
ways found  a  way  to  refute  their  conservative 
arguments. 

She  maintained  a  certain  reserve  during  her 
stay  in  the  household,  where  her  station  was 
nominally  that  of  an  honored  guest.  She  rose 
very  early,  usually  before  dawn,  and  sang  her 
prayers  in  a  low  tone  while  she  bathed.  She 
was  very  particular  as  to  her  ablutions,  often 
performing  them  at  night  in  the  fountain  of 
the  woman's  court,  after  every  one  but  her- 
self had  retired.  She  dressed  as  carefully  as 
if  for  a  reception,  preferably  in  white,  but 
usually  saw  no  one  until  evening,  unless  there 
was  a  special  request  for  her  presence,  and  this 
was  certain  to  be  made  if  guests  appeared,  for 
no  one  was  considered  so  fascinating  as  Kurret 
ul  Aine. 

In  the  course  of  her  confinement  one  of  the 
daughters  of  the  family  was  married,  and  the 
wedding  was  a  splendid  affair,  for  which  no 
expense  was  spared.  Musicians  and  dancers  had 
been  provided  for  the  entertainment  of  the  com- 
pany, but  presently  all  demanded  Kurret  ul 
Aine,  and  as  soon  as  she  appeared  the  dancers 
were  sent  away  as  all  were  immediately  ab- 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

sorbcd  in  the  conversation  of  this  wonderful 
woman.  The  guests  even  forgot  the  sweets 
provided  for  their  refreshment,  of  which  ori- 
ental women  are  extremely  fond.  No  one 
wished  to  do  anything  but  listen  to  Kurret  ul 
Aine. 

Various  councils  were  arranged  for  her,  at- 
tended by  the  learned  Mullahs,  in  the  hope 
that  contact  with  trained  masculine  minds 
might  lead  her  away  from  the  religious  fal- 
lacies into  which  she  had  fallen.  But  invari- 
ably she  met  logic  with  a  better  reasoning,  and 
plead  her  cause  so  admirably  that  her  would- 
be  instructors  were  discomfited. 

One  day,  however,  she  lost  patience.  She 
encountered  always  the  same  arguments  of  a 
theological  school,  which  seemed  to  her  awak- 
ened mind  but  shallow  emptiness.  The  Bab 
could  not  be  the  expected  Mahdi  because  he 
did  not  bear  this  title  or  that,  and  finally  be- 
cause he  did  not  spring  from  the  cities  of  Djab 
ul  Ka,  and  Djab  ul  Sa. 

She  responded  violently  that  these  places 
never  existed,  and  were  invented  by  traditional 
theology  as  symbols,  that  the  ideas  in  regard 
to  them  were  the  product  of  morbid  minds. 
This  was  undoubtedly  true,  and  perhaps  was 
as  well  known  to  her  adversaries  «s  to  herself. 
Still  they  persisted. 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

At  length  worn  out  by  their  obstinacy  she 
exclaimed : 

"The  reasonings  you  advance  are  those  of 
an  ignorant  and  stupid  child!  When  will  you 
cease  these  insanities  and  lies?  When  will  you 
lift  your  eyes  to  the  Sun  of  Truth?" 

The  Mullahs  outraged  at  what  they  consid- 
ered her  blasphemy  withdrew  immediately,  and 
then  and  there  decided  upon  her  death.  They 
could  never  recall  her  from  her  heresies,  they 
could  not  lessen  her  constantly  growing  influ- 
ence over  their  women,  and  their  only  safety 
lay  in  putting  her  out  of  the  way.  They  said 
nothing  of  their  decision,  however,  for  they 
well  knew  that  if  the  Babis  suspected  for  a 
moment  that  danger  threatened  Kurret  ul 
Aine,  they  would  rescue  her  at  any  cost. 

One  night  she  left  her  chamber  as  she  was 
accustomed  to  do,  and  bathed  in  the  fountain 
of  the  enclosed  court,  which  is  always  part  of 
the  woman's  house  in  an  oriental  residence. 
She  was  singing  softly  during  this  little  cere- 
mony and  seemed  very  happy. 

She  returned  to  her  chamber,  perfumed  her- 
self, and  dressed  entirely  in  white.  Then  she 
made  the  tour  of  the  house,  visiting  all  the 
ladies,  saying  farewell  to  each  as  if  she  were 
going  on  a  long  journey.  She  begged  them 
to  excuse  every  inconvenience  her  stay  in  the 

65 


THE  SHINING  PATHWAY 

mansion  might  have  caused,  and  to  forgive  any 
wrong  she  had  done  while  there. 

They  asked  her  in  surprise,  "What  does  this 
mean?  Are  you  going  to  leave  us?"  And  she 
replied : 

"I  am  going  on  a  very  long  journey  to- 
night." 

She  spoke  with  such  joy,  she  appeared  so 
strangely  exulted  that  all  wept  at  her  words, 
for  they  loved  her  exceedingly. 

While  they  were  talking  there  came  a  knock 
at  the  street  door. 

"Go  quickly  and  open!"  she  cried,  "they  are 
looking  for  me !" 

It  was  the  Kalanter  himself  who  entered. 
He  went  directly  to  her  chamber  and  said  to 
her: 

"Come  Madam,  they  are  asking  for  you!" 

"Yes,"  she  responded,  "I  know,  I  know 
where  you  will  take  me,  and  what  you  will  do 
to  me,  but  beware !  The  day  will  come  when 
your  master  will  cause  you  to  be  slain  in  your 
turn !" 

This  prediction  was  verified  shortly  after- 
ward, and  is  the  more  remarkable  as  the  Shah 
himself  had  ordered  the  execution  of  Kurret  ul 
Aine,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Mullahs,  but  all 
had  been  kept  a  profound  secret. 

She  went  out  with  the  Kalanter  dressed  as 

66 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

she  was.  Her  friends  did  not  guess  where  she 
was  going,  and  only  learned  of  her  execution 
the  following  day. 

The  utmost  precautions  had  been  taken  to 
prevent  the  rescue  of  Kurret  ul  Aine.  The 
nephew  of  the  Kalanter  had  been  ordered  to 
draw  a  cordon  of  police  about  the  house  of  the 
Kalanter,  and  the  garden  of  Ilkhani,  though 
the  reason  for  this  was  not  explained.  The 
inhabitants  were  forbidden  to  be  upon  the 
streets  later  than  three  hours  after  sundown. 
At  four  hours  from  this  time  Kurret  ul  Aine 
was  removed  from  the  house.  The  Kalanter 
put  her  in  charge  of  his  nephew,  to  wrhom  he 
gave  a  folded  paper,  saying: 

"You  will  take  this  woman  to  the  garden 
of  Ilkhani,  and  place  her  in  the  hands  of  the 
Serdar  Aziz  Khan.  Then  bring  me  a  receipt 
for  her  delivery." 

A  horse  was  led  forward  and  the  victim 
mounted  upon  it  was  convoyed  silently  through 
the  deserted  streets,  which  would  have  been  a 
scene  of  wild  uproar  if  the  town  had  dreamed 
the  villainy  that  was  plotting.  The  young 
escort  was  in  constant  dread  of  rescue,  and 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  when  the  garden  was 
at  last  reached.  The  Serdar  was  awaiting  him, 
and  leaving  his  prisoner  carefully  guarded  in 
a  lower  chamber,  he  demanded  his  receipt. 

67 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"You  are  sure  that  no  one  has  seen  you?" 
asked  the  Serdar. 

"No  one,"  was  the  response,  "Give  me  the 
receipt." 

Upon  this  he  was  informed  that  he  was  to 
assist  in  the  execution  of  Kurret  ul  Aine,  and 
could  not  have  his  receipt  until  this  was  ac- 
complished. We  are  not  told  that  the  young 
man  objected  to  this  brutal  office,  and  the  cere- 
mony proceeded  somewhat  as  it  had  been 
planned. 

The  Serdar  called  a  Turkish  valet  who  had 
been  in  his  service  for  some  time.  He  was  a 
fine  looking  fellow  with  a  handsome  face.  The 
Serdar  spoke  flatteringly  to  him,  told  him  he 
had  recognized  his  merit,  and  wished  to  reward 
him.  Then  he  gave  him  twenty  pieces  of  gold, 
telling  him  to  spend  them  as  he  pleased,  and 
handed  him  a  silk  handkerchief. 

"Go  with  this  officer,"  he  added,  "to  the 
lower  chamber.  There  you  will  find  a  young 
woman  who  is  an  infidel,  and  is  turning  the 
women  away  from  the  pathway  that  Moham- 
med has  marked  out  for  them.  Strangle  her 
with  this  handkerchief.  You  will  thus  render 
a  great  service  to  God,  and  I  will  reward  you 
generously." 

The  two  men  descended  to  the  room  where 
Kurret  ul  Aine  had  been  left,  and  found  her 

68 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

in  prayer.  The  valet  approached  her  to  exe- 
cute the  order  he  had  received,  when  she 
turned,  fixed  her  eyes  upon  him,  and  ex- 
claimed : 

"Oh,  young  man!  It  would  be  unmanly  of 
you  to  soil  your  hand  with  this  murder!" 

It  would  be  impossible  to  explain  what  revo- 
lution these  simple  words  caused  in  the  soul  of 
the  youth,  but  he  fled  as  if  insane.  The  of- 
ficer followed  him,  and  he  rushed  into  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Serdar,  crying: 

"You  may  do  with  me  what  you  will,  but  I 
can  not  carry  out  your  orders.  I  will  not 
touch  this  woman!" 

The  Serdar  sent  him  away,  and  after  think- 
ing a  moment,  ordered  up  a  trooper  who  had 
been  put  to  work  in  the  kitchen  as  a  punish- 
ment for  disorderly  conduct.  He  poured  him 
a  stiff  glass  of  brandy,  knowing  he  had  drunk 
no  liquor  for  some  weeks,  assured  him  that  he 
now  had  an  opportunity  to  regain  the  good 
will  of  his  master,  handed  him  another  hand- 
kerchief, and  commanded  him  to  execute  Kur- 
ret  ul  Aine. 

This  time  the  murder  was  quickly  accom- 
plished, for  the  brutal  fellow  fell  upon  his  vic- 
tim without  an  instant's  hesitation,  and  she 
made  no  resistance.  Before  the  deed  was  fully 
complete,  however,  there  was  a  disturbance. 

69 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

Fearing  the  ever  dreaded  rescue  the  assassins 
dragged  the  fainting  but  still  living  woman  to 
an  abandoned  well  in  the  garden.  They  hurled 
her  into  its  depths,  and  hastily  flung  stones 
upon  her  until  the  place  was  filled  up  suffi- 
ciently to  conceal  all  evidences  of  the  vile  deed 
that  had  been  perpetrated. 

So  died  one  of  the  most  charming  women  of 
the  world,  a  martyr  to  her  religion,  but  more 
especially  to  the  enfranchisement  of  her  sex. 
Wherever  the  cause  of  the  liberation  of  women 
is  championed  the  name  of  Kurret  ul  Aine 
should  be  recalled  as  the  brave  woman  who 
shed  her  blood  for  the  True  One,  but  who 
never  failed  to  remind  her  hearers  that  the  en- 
lightened hearts  of  the  future  must  ensure  the 
freedom  of  women. 

What  splendor  of  life  is  in  the  record  of 
these  exalted  men  and  women  who  so  easily 
forgot  comfort  and  every  joy  the  body  craves 
for  the  sake  of  a  shining  ideal?  The  Bab  re- 
membered nothing  but  the  message  he  was  to 
give,  a  message  that  must  soften  the  hearts  of 
men,  turn  them  toward  God  and  fill  them  with 
love  for  their  brothers.  The  love  of  God  shone 
through  him  so  powerfully  that  wherever  he 
went,  and  whenever  his  divine  word  was  re- 
peated men,  women,  and  little  children  trem- 
bled and  listened,  and  then  began  to  love  so 

70 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ardently  that  God  was  in  their  hearts,  and 
they  forgot  themselves  completely  in  their 
eagerness  to  serve  the  heavenly  cause  that 
meant  peace  on  earth,  and  brotherhood  to  all 
mankind ! 

The  Mohammedans  feared  the  Babis.  They 
could  not  conquer  them,  could  not  understand 
the  light  in  their  faces,  the  exaltation  in  their 
voices,  the  heavenly  presence  that  surrounded 
them  when  they  met  death.  We  read  the  iden- 
tical story  in  the  history  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian martyrs.  They  encountered  death  with 
the  same  joy,  they  were  surrounded  by  the 
same  Presence,  they  prophesied  as  did  the 
Babis  the  swift  retribution  that  would  over- 
take their  persecutors. 

This  was  to  be  expected,  for  while  the  Bab 
was  the  Mahdi  to  his  Mohammedan  followers, 
he  was  the  Angel  of  the  resurrection  to  the 
Christian  world,  the  Herald  of  Baha  Ullah, 
and  the  Precursor  of  the  Wonderful  One, 
whose  return  must  usher  in  the  dawn  of  peace, 
the  millennium  of  progress. 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 
CHAPTER  V. 

THE    RISE    OF    BAHA    UL.LAH. 

The  movement  of  the  new  faith  by  no  means 
stagnated  after  the  execution  of  the  True  One. 
He  had  warned  his  followers  that  they  must 
look  for  the  coming  of  the  Glory  of  God,  Him 
whom  God  shall  manifest,  within  nineteen  years 
after  his  own  passing,  and  when  this  sad  event 
was  accomplished  the  hearts  of  the  devoted 
ones  turned  more  and  more  toward  the  figure 
of  Houssein  Ali,  Prince  of  Nur,  who  had  been 
one  of  the  first  to  accept  the  message  of  the 
Bab.  The  wealth  and  position  of  Houssein 
Ali's  family  would  have  rendered  him  a  note- 
worthy figure  in  any  case,  but  his  beautiful 
character  necessitated  his  true  prominence. 

He  was  two  years  older  than  the  Bab,  being 
born  in  November,  1817,  and  from  his  infancy 
he  had  been  the  counsellor  and  the  dearly  be- 
loved of  his  immediate  environment.  At  the 
moment  of  the  Bab's  proclamation  he  was  mar- 
ried, and  had  become  the  head  of  his  family. 
His  wife,  the  mother  of  Abdul  Balm,  was  a 
very  remarkable  woman,  to  whom  the  orientals 
gave  a  title  expressive  of  her  supreme  excel- 

72 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

lencc.  They  called  her  the  Lady  of  the  Ladies 
of  the  Ladles.  Three  years  after  the  execution 
of  the  Bab  Houssein  Ali  was  imprisoned  with 
his  entire  family,  as  a  follower  of  the  Bab,  and 
all  of  his  great  property  was  confiscated.  This 
sacrifice  was  demanded  of  the  one  upon  whom 
the  Glory  of  God  was  to  rest,  for  the  Saviour 
of  his  kind  must  always  be  "a  man  of  sorrows 
and  acquainted  with  grief." 

Houssein  Ali  was  an  individual  of  splendid 
appearance.  He  was  more  than  six  feet  in 
height,  of  magnificent  figure,  with  wonderful 
blue  eyes,  and  the  fair  skin  and  dark  hair  of 
the  ancient  Persian  race.  He  would  have  been 
remarked  anywhere  for  the  simple  beauty  of 
his  manhood.  When  added  to  this,  the  su- 
preme gift  of  illumination  that  had  been  prom- 
ised came  upon  him,  surely  it  would  have  been 
very  difficult  not  to  believe  that  he  was  a  divine 
messenger,  bringing  a  new  revelation  to  man- 
kind. 

The  teaching  of  Baha  Ullah  was  in  every 
case  an  amplification  of  that  which  the  Bab 
had  uttered,  though  by  no  means  limited  to  the 
text  already  eloquently  expressed.  In  fact  the 
True  One  came  so  little  in  contact  with  his 
followers  that  they  comprehended  scarcely 
more  than  the  bare  outline  of  what  he  had  ac- 
tually taught. 

73 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

It  was  in  this  way  that  they  took  up  arms 
and  fought  for  their  faith  and  their  liberty. 
The  Bab  would  never  have  counseled  such  ac- 
tion, for  his  principle  was  that  of  love,  and 
like  all  the  great  prophets,  his  predecessors, 
he  was  a  non-resistant.  Baha  Ullah  corrected 
this  misunderstanding  among  his  followers, 
and  one  of  his  first  commands  was  that  the 
persecuted  Babis  should  lay  down  their  arms. 

"We  can  only  conquer  by  love,"  he  insisted, 
"and  if  you  cease  fighting  the  persecution  will 
die  out." 

This  promise  was  literally  fulfilled,  so  that 
for  many  years  before  the  death  of  Baha  Ullah 
in  1892,  there  was  no  persecution  of  the 
"friends."  The  reverence  of  the  people  for 
the  expressed  wish  of  the  Blessed  Perfection 
as  he  is  often  lovingly  termed,  rendered  them 
immediately  obedient  to  his  desire,  and  the  fol- 
lowing anecdote  illustrates  how  powerful  was 
his  influence. 

There  was  one  leader  among  the  oppressed 
people  who  had  been  so  successful  in  his  gen- 
eralship of  the  outlawed  religionaries,  that 
again  and  again  he  had  enabled  them  to  evade 
or  overcome  the  Shah's  troopers.  These  last 
were  constantly  on  the  watch  for  him.  At 
length  a  regiment  of  cavalry  discovered  the  lit- 
tle band  of  persecuted  outcasts  in  their  fast- 

74 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ness,  and  a  hot  skirmish  was  imminent,  though 
the  soldiers  hoped  to  capture  their  prey  in  the 
end. 

Meanwhile  a  tablet  or  letter  from  Baha 
Ullah  had  just  been  given  to  the  Babist  leader, 
in  which  the  Holy  One  counseled  peace  and 
submission  as  the  only  way  to  bring  repose  to 
the  tortured  country,  and  success  to  the  cause 
of  God.  The  writings  of  Baha  Ullah  are  full 
of  power,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  read  them 
even  in  cold  print  without  a  profound  con- 
sciousness of  their  inspiration.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine,  therefore,  how  deeply  touched  an  in- 
dividual may  have  been  at  receiving  one  of 
these  eloquent  epistles,  the  thought  of  which 
was  addressed  directly  to  himself. 

The  leader  in  question  was  so  stirred  at  the 
perusal  of  the  communication  sent  him  by  his 
spiritual  Lord  that  after  reflecting  a  moment 
he  suddenly  stuck  it  in  his  sleeve,  and  turning, 
left  his  companions  and  walked  toward  the 
watching  enemy.  He  approached  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  hostile  force,  and 
tendered  him  his  sword,  with  the  request  that 
as  he  gave  himself  up,  his  companions  might 
be  allowed  to  go  free. 

The  captain  of  the  troop  took  the  sword, 
delighted  at  his  easy  conquest,  and  exclaimed: 

"How   is    this?      You    are   the    man   I   most 

75 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

dreaded  to  meet,  and  it  seems  you  have  turned 
coward !" 

"It  is  not  fear  of  you  that  has  made  me  re- 
linquish my  sword,"  replied  the  persecuted 
man,  "but  the  word  of  one  mightier  than  you 
has  conquered  me!"  Then  drawing  the  letter 
of  Baha  Ullah  from  his  sleeve  he  extended  it 
to  the  officer. 

The  latter  read  it  in  his  turn,  found  it  dif- 
ficult to  see  clearly  for  a  moment,  and  return- 
ing it  to  his  prisoner,  he  remarked,  "I  can  not 
arrest  a  man  so  protected!" 

Then  springing  upon  his  horse  he  led  his 
troop  away,  and  the  little  company  of  outcasts 
was  safe  for  the  moment.  But  the  recipient 
of  Baha  Ullah's  letter  sought  martyrdom 
shortly  afterward  as  if  determined  to  prove 
that  he  had  not  shrunk  from  that  glorious  des- 
tiny. 

The  words  unity  and  equality  were  even 
more  constantly  upon  the  lips  of  Baha  Ullah 
than  upon  those  of  the  Bab.  Always  a  pris- 
oner, he  was  taken  first  to  Bagdad,  then  to 
Adrianople  and  Constantinople,  and  finally,  in 
1868,  to  the  prison  town  of  Acca  in  Syria, 
where  he  passed  away  in  1892.  But  the  pano- 
rama of  the  world  seemed  ever  unfolding  be- 
fore his  eyes,  and  the  streets  of  Paris,  London, 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

St.  Petersburg  and  New  York  appeared  more 
familiar  to  him  than  the  walls  of  his  prison. 

The  sufferings  of  man  were  constantly  in 
his  thoughts,  and  he  taught  that  these  suffer- 
ings must  be  obliterated  by  the  establishment 
of  justice,  and  the  attainment  of  that  "most 
great  Peace"  of  which  he  dreamed.  He  told 
Professor  Brown,  of  Cambridge,  who  visited 
him  in  Acca  in  1891,  that  the  essence  of  his 
teachings  was  contained  in  Christ's  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  and  in  the  literal  interpretation  of 
his  words  to  his  disciples.  The  world  must 
put  in  practice  every  element  of  those  divine 
commands,  he  insisted,  yet  two  thousand  years 
after  they  were  spoken,  the  social  system  of 
the  universe  is  planned  on  such  opposite  lines 
that  a  man  is  considered  a  crank  and  a  fanatic 
who  endeavors  to  live  the  life  that  Christ  de- 
manded of  his  followers! 

Baha  Ullah  is  regarded  by  his  people  as 
bringing  the  fulfilment  of  Christ's  promise  to 
come  again  and  establish  his  kingdom.  They 
realize  that  the  kingdom  is  a  spiritual  one, 
though  one  which  must  dynamically  alter  hu- 
man conditions,  and  their  interpretation  of  the 
"Coming"  is  somewhat  different  from  that  of 
the  Christian  church. 

When  the  spirit  of  God  rests  upon  a  man, 
say  the  Bahaist  Teachers,  he  receives  the  pro- 

77 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

phetic  gift,  he  becomes  a  divine  Messenger,  and 
these  divine  Messengers  appearing  again  and 
again  have  lifted  men  from  barbarism,  and 
given  them  a  constantly  more  illumined  con- 
ception of  God.  The  prophet  may  be  one  who 
speaks  only  to  a  group  of  men,  like  Moses  for 
instance,  or  a  Manifestation  of  God,  whose 
message  is  for  the  world,  like  that  of  Christ 
or  Baha  Ullah.  But  it  is  the  Breath  of  God 
upon  him  which  renders  him  different  from 
other  men,  and  not  any  peculiarity  of  human 
birth. 

Thus  the  Bab  was  a  descendant  of  Moham- 
med, but  there  had  been  many  of  the  prophet's 
kindred  before  him,  and  not  one  had  been  illu- 
minated until  the  Bab  came  to  fulfill  the 
prophecy  of  the  returning  Imaum,  and  this 
prophecy  rose  not  from  the  flesh  of  the  Imaum 
who  spoke  it,  nor  of  Mohammed  who  first 
voiced  it,  but  from  the  spirit  that  rested  upon 
both,  and  upon  the  Bab  as  wrcll. 

So  Christ's  promise  to  come  again  was  ut- 
tered through  the  lips  of  Jesus,  but  it  did  not 
mean  that  the  man  Jesus  was  to  walk  the  earth 
once  more  as  the  Christian  world  has  believed. 
Christ  was  the  spirit  of  God  resting  upon 
Jesus,  which  rendered  him  the  Saviour  of  man. 
He  became  a  Manifestation  of  God  in  the  mo- 
ment of  that  great  Illumination  and  because  of 

78 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

it,  not  because  he  was  the  son  of  Mary,  the 
virgin.  So  the  spirit  of  God  breathing 
through  the  lips  of  Jesus  made  a  definite 
promise  to  appear  again  as  the  Comforter,  the 
Prince  of  this  World,  as  an  individual  who 
once  more  should  be  the  light  bearer. 

Christian  theology  has  familiarized  us  with 
the  idea  that  there  has  never  been  but  one 
Saviour  of  the  world,  whose  coming  was 
planned  with  the  "Fall  of  man"  and  the  eating 
of  that  terrible  apple  which  caused  such  an 
acute  case  of  indigestion  not  only  to  Adam 
but  to  all  his  descendants. 

"Oh,  Thou  who  man  of  baser  Earth  didst 

make, 

And  ev'n  with  Paradise  divine  the  snake; 
For  all  the  sin  wherewith  the  face  of  man 
Is  blackened,  man's  forgiveness  give — and 

take!" 

We  must  always  remember  that  this  scheme 
of  salvation  is  not  in  the  least  that  of  Christ, 
but  that  of  Paul  essentially,  and  of  the  early 
Christian  theologians.  It  sprang  from  the 
brain  of  man,  not  from  the  illumination  of 
God. 

Christ  came  to  save  the  world  surely.  He 
was  the  divine  Word  made  flesh,  but  he  was 

79 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

one  of  the  heavenly  chain  that  will  never  be 
complete  as  long  as  man  yearns  for  God,  and 
the  human  mind  is  capable  of  a  constantly 
fuller  and  deeper  conception  of  his  divinity. 

While  this  yearning  endures  the  Messenger 
of  God  must  appear  to  satisfy  it,  and  lift  us 
to  still  higher  comprehension  of  that  ethereal 
and  infinite  Deity  who  is  our  Environer! 

Abdul  Baha  says  the  growth  of  the  soul  is 
like  the  return  of  the  seasons  to  the  earth.  As 
Spring,  Summer,  Autumn  and  Winter  follow 
one  another,  the  seeds  are  planted,  the  soft 
breezes  of  the  south  woo  them  to  blossom,  the 
heats  of  Summer  ripen  them,  the  Autumn 
brings  the  harvest,  and  in  the  snows  of  Winter 
the  earth  is  wrapped  beneath  the  cold  repose 
that  is  in  reality  the  precursor  of  blossoming 
Spring,  for  ever  it  must  dawn  again  with  bloom 
and  fragrance. 

So  the  soul  of  man  does  not  retain  the  fresh- 
ness and  glory  of  inspiration  which  rises  when 
the  great  Messenger  of  God  proclaims  his 
message.  Then  the  human  heart  is  softened. 
It  receives  the  heavenly  imprint,  coldness  and 
selfishness  disappear  for  the  time  being,  and 
earth  offers  a  transient  picture  of  heaven. 

When  Christ  was  in  Judea,  every  one  who 
approached  him  and  lingered  to  know  him  was 
transformed,  and  after  his  Departure  the  de- 

80 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

light  of  his  memory  rendered  the  journeys  of 
the  disciples  and  the  establishment  of  the  early 
church  a  story  of  Paradise. 

So  with  Mohammed.  The  wisdom  of  his 
presence  lifted  the  cloud  of  barbarism  from  his 
followers,  and  the  memory  of  it  founded  that 
magnificent  civilization  of  the  Moors  that  is 
the  marvel  of  history. 

But  the  hearts  of  the  Christians  grew  cold, 
theology  replaced  the  words  of  the  great 
Teacher,  and  the  conduct  of  the  Christian 
world  to-day  is  far  from  that  inculcated  by 
the  precept  and  example  of  the  exalted  Mentor. 

So  the  heavy  tyranny  of  succeeding  rulers 
offered  the  blackest  contrast  to  the  lesson  of 
peace  and  justice  Mohammed  taught  to  his  de- 
lighted listeners.  It  seems  as  one  looks  at  the 
disturbance  and  suffering  of  the  world  as  if  no 
prophet  had  ever  whispered  love  into  eager 
ears.  But  the  fields  must  always  lie  blanketed 
in  snow  before  the  brown  earth  is  ready  once 
more  to  receive  the  winged  seeds,  and  only  the 
fragrance  of  the  breath  of  God,  the  thunder  of 
his  utterance  through  the  lips  of  his  prophets 
can  melt  the  frost  from  the  heart  of  the  world, 
and  rouse  our  human  nature  so  that  it  casts 
aside  once  more  the  enshrouding  folds  of  its  cold 
invented  theologies,  and  determines  to  live  as 
God  wills,  as  his  message  directs. 

81  . 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Dieu  le  veut,  Dieu  le  vcut!  God  wills  it!  is 
the  ancient  crusaders'  cry,  and  it  seems  to 
thrill  the  world  again  when  a  Manifestation  of 
God  appears.  At  such  a  time  a  new  law  must 
be  spoken  for  mankind.  Its  essentials  are  like 
the  old  one,  because  all  religions  inculcate  the 
same  principles  as  to  love  of  God  and  man, 
and  the  relation  of  this  life  to  its  eternal  suc- 
cession. But  there  are  differences  in  details, 
as  for  instance,  the  Jewish  law  permitted  di- 
vorce, and  Christ  declared  it  wrong,  while 
Baha  Ullah  upholds  it.  The  Old  Testament 
prophets  allowed  a  man  to  have  several  wives, 
BO  did  Mohammed,  while  Christ  taught  monog- 
amy, as  does  Baha  Ullah. 

In  such  a  period  of  transition  between  the 
old  day  and  the  new,  profound  distress  must 
always  be  experienced,  because  established 
truth  has  lost  its  hold  upon  the  heart.  The 
few  have  learned  the  new  law  and  rejoice  in  it 
with  fervor;  others  who  are  discontented  with 
traditions  of  right  and  wrong  feel  at  liberty 
to  hew  a  pathway  of  their  own,  while  the  many 
arrogate  to  themselves  a  license  in  all  things 
which  is  shocking  to  the  conservative  and  pain- 
ful to  all  sensitive  and  spiritual  minds. 

Such  a  condition  accompanied  the  preaching 
of  Christ's  wonderful  Word,  a  similar  situa- 
tion followed  Mohammed's  death  and  the  set- 

82 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ting  aside  of  his  successor  All,  and  a  sadly  ex- 
aggerated replica  of  the  identical  condition  ex- 
ists to-day. 

In  religion  we  have  various  new  cults  like 
that  of  Christian  Science  and  the  notable  de- 
parture of  Dr.  Worcester,  the  separation  of 
church  and  state  in  France,  and  the  threat  of 
its  repetition  in  Spain.  In  governmental  up- 
rising there  are  the  revolutions  of  Turkey  and 
Persia,  the  rumblings  of  suffering  Russia,  the 
distress  of  England,  the  threat  of  increasing 
armament  in  Germany,  the  growing  struggle 
between  capital  and  labor  in  the  United  States 
— these  are  only  a  few  indications  of  the  deep 
spirit  of  change  that  seems  pervading  all  our 
institutions. 

Most  curiously  in  evidence  perhaps  are  the 
increase  of  divorce,  and  the  mad  thirst  for 
gold,  for  the  possession  of  more  money,  both 
tendencies  in  marked  contrast  with  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ,  who  inculcated  above  all 
things  the  law  of  brotherhood,  and  of  unselfish, 
faithful  love. 

As  creed  has  so  largely  replaced  practical 
Christianity,  so  the  development  of  pure  in- 
tellectualism  has  generally  set  aside  that  use  of 
spiritual  intuition  which  holds  so  large  a  place 
in  religious  experience,  and  renders  it  vital. 
The  thirst  for  money  meanwhile  has  upset  all 

83 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

customs  of  sweet  and  rational  living.  The  de- 
sire to  be  very  rich  in  the  goods  of  this  world, 
or  to  follow  the  example  of  the  extremely  rich 
has  invaded  all  walks  of  life,  transforming  hos- 
pitality into  a  mere  giving  and  receiving  of  en- 
tertainment, and  introducing  into  business 
methods  a  cold  indifference  to  the  cost  of  hu- 
man life  in  the  output  of  a  product  which  is 
shocking  in  the  extreme.  The  gentle  admoni- 
tion of  the  Saviour: 

"If  a  man  ask  thee  for  thy  coat,  give  him 
thy  cloak  also,"  has  been  so  far  forgotten 
that  the  maker  of  coats  compels  his  employee 
to  labor  long  hours  in  conditions  inimical  to 
life,  and  when  we  remonstrate  with  him,  shrugs 
his  shoulders  and  responds: 

"Business  can  not  consider  life,  it  deals  only 
with  profits !" 

This  period  of  transition  between  the  mes- 
sages of  two  great  prophets  or  Manifestations 
of  God,  when  one  is  fading  from  the  spiritual 
consciousness  of  the  world,  and  the  other  has 
not  yet  pervaded  it  with  controlling  potency, 
has  been  termed  by  Baha  Ullah  the  day  of 
Judgment.  Christ's  words  to  his  disciples  did 
not  indicate  an  end  of  the  physical  universe, 
a  destruction  of  the  planet,  but  the  close  of  a 
spiritual  dispensation  with  the  throes  and  dis- 
turbances that  must  necessarily  attend  such  an 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

epoch.  It  is  a  time  of  horror  because  it  is  law- 
less, but  it  is  one  of  enormous  advancement  be- 
cause new  truth  is  manifesting  itself  in  every 
direction. 

The  shocking  occurrences,  the  pain,  suffer- 
ing, disdain  and  indifference  of  human  life 
were  never  so  noticeable  as  to-day,  the  spir- 
itual development  is  beyond  all  parallel,  and 
the  new  revelation  must  necessarily  be  one  of 
enormous  power  and  significance  to  meet  a  de- 
mand which  has  fruited  from  all  religions. 
Baha  Ullah  declared  that  the  disturbances  of 
this  period  would  be  manifested  in  the  physical 
as  well  as  in  the  mental  and  spiritual  worlds 
and  certainly  the  record  of  calamity  in  the 
preceding  ten  years  is  without  precedent  in  his- 
tory. There  have  been  single  catastrophes 
as  stupendous  as  some  of  these.  So  the  burn- 
ing of  plague  stricken  London  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  could  be  mentioned  in  the  same 
breath  with  the  earthquake  of  San  Francisco, 
and  the  destruction  of  Pompeii  with  that  of 
Messina,  but  pause  a  moment  and  realize  that 
sixteen  centuries  intervened  between  the  hor- 
rors of  Pompeii  and  London,  and  but  three 
years  between  those  of  San  Francisco  and  Mes- 
sina. 

We  read  passages  in  Isaiah,  in  Revelations 
and  St.  Matthew  which  seem  to  picture  the 

85 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

present  day  in  its  heaping  up  of  disastrous 
events,  yet  there  are  certain  potential  forces 
at  work  in  its  upheavals  that  would  indicate  a 
divine  force  working  beneath  the  surface  to  at- 
tain certain  permanent  results.  For  instance, 
Baha  Ullah  in  many  significant  prophetic  ut- 
terances which  he  gave  in  regard  to  this  re- 
markable Day  of  God,  called  it  a  day  of  pub- 
licity, when  all  things  must  be  made  clear  be- 
cause its  law  is  that  of  manifestation.  No 
hypocrisy  can  therefore  be  successfully  main- 
tained. All  dishonesty  must  be  laid  bare,  all 
scoundrels  and  dishonest  public  servants  must 
be  tried  at  the  bar  of  enlightened  public 
opinion. 

Moreover,  as  the  new  ideal  is  working  in  the 
world  consciousness  a  new  sensitiveness  will  be 
manifested  as  to  the  rights  of  the  common- 
wealth and  the  individual,  a  new  democracy  will 
be  established  on  a  solid  foundation.  In  many 
countries  a  republic  will  replace  the  ancient 
monarchy,  and  where  the  monarchy  remains  it 
must  become  distinctively  constitutional. 

"The  day  of  the  rich  man  is  passed,"  de- 
clared Baha  Ullah,  "he  does  not  belong  to  the 
new  time." 

So  two  small  commonwealths,  those  of  Swit- 
zerland and  New  Zealand,  have  already  rendered 
the  accumulation  of  excessive  wealth  by  the  in- 

86 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

dividual  an  impossibility.  This  has  been  ac- 
complished by  the  simple  imposition  of  a  grad- 
uated tax,  and  with  other  laws  of  similar  tenor 
has  gone  far  to  make  these  two  communities 
ideal  places  of  residence  for  human  beings  of 
all  classes.  Already  the  pensioning  of  old  age 
and  the  income  tax  arc  being  suggested  every- 
where, showing  that  the  tendency  of  advance- 
ment is  altogether  toward  the  betterment  of 
the  masses. 

Perhaps  the  reader  is  reflecting  "these 
changes  are  not  spiritual"  but  in  fact  the  mes- 
sage of  every  great  prophet  has  produced 
enormous  economic  progress.  That  of  Christ 
and  of  Mohammed  destroyed  and  founded  em- 
pires, the  Mosaic  law  created  a  new  state,  and 
the  Word  of  the  Bab  has  already  manifested 
itself  in  the  constitutions  of  Persia  and 
Turkey. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   UNITY   OF   MAN. 

People  ask,  why  should  a  prophet  come  to 
us  from  the  Orient,  surely  a  new  teacher  of 
truth  should  spring  from  the  advanced  races 
that  are  creating  the  civilization  of  the  future, 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

and  from  the  centres  of  progressive  thought? 
But  in  the  Spring  time  of  the  soul,  when  again 
the  spirit  rather  than  the  intellect  alone  is  to 
control  the  destiny  of  man  if  a  prophet  or 
Manifestation  of  God  came  to  us  from  Paris, 
London,  Berlin,  or  New  York,  or  from  St. 
Petersburgh  maybe,  we  would  find  every  ex- 
planation of  his  illumination  in  the  ripened 
culture  of  the  nation  that  produced  him,  and 
we  would  smile  at  the  assertion  that  he  might 
be  a  Sun  reflecting  the  Splendor  of  God. 

When,  however,  we  perceive  a  great  light  in 
the  darkness  of  the  oppressed  Orient,  when  we 
read  in  the  utterances  of  this  far  away  Mahdi, 
Bab,  or  Manifestation  of  God,  the  very  sen- 
tences that  are  inciting  new  movements  of  our 
planet  elsewhere,  and  appearing  under  differ- 
ent phraseologies  as  the  foundation  for  novel 
cults  and  philanthropies  among  communities 
which  bear  aloft  the  torch  of  culture,  we  are 
compelled  to  search  more  deeply  for  conclu- 
sions that  satisfy. 

We  remember  that  the  world  has  not  always 
remained  content  with  purely  scientific  reason- 
ings, but  as  even  Zola  admitted,  the  rationalist 
must,  in  his  turn,  yield  the  middle  of  the  road 
to  the  idealist  and  the  illuminant.  We  love 
our  Charles  Darwin,  but  we  do  not  forget  our 
Buddha  and  our  Christ.  We  look  for  our 

88 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Mahdi,  as  we  repeat  the  hymns  of  the  Rig- 
Veda,  or  the  Psalms  of  David,  and  the  divine 
longing  within  us  will  not  be  stilled. 

So  when  we  read  as  the  utterance  of  the 
Sultan's  prisoner,  certain  wonderful  words, 
the  essence  of  which  is  thrilling  in  many  hearts 
of  those  who  never  heard  his  name,  we  ponder 
deeply,  and  remember  the  profound  conviction 
voiced  in  all  ancient  tradition  that  God  shines 
upon  his  chosen  ones  with  a  glory  that  can  not 
be  hidden.  Baha  Ullah  says,  for  instance: 

"We  desire  but  the  good  of  the  world  and 
the  happiness  of  the  nations,  yet  they  deem  us 
a  stirrer  of  strife  and  sedition,  worthy  of 
bondage  and  banishment;  we  desire  that  all 
nations  should  become  one  in  faith,  and  all 
men  as  brothers;  that  the  bonds  of  affection 
between  the  sons  of  men  should  be  strength- 
ened ;  that  diversity  of  religion  should  cease, 
and  differences  of  race  be  annulled.  What 
harm  is  there  in  this? — Yet  so  it  shall  be; 
these  fruitless  strifes,  these  ruinous  wars  shall 
pass  away,  and  the  Most  Great  Peace  shall 
come,  is  not  this  that  which  Christ  foretold? 
Yet  do  we  see  your  kings  and  rulers  lavishing 
their  treasures  more  freely  for  the  destruction 
of  the  human  race  than  on  that  which  would 
conduce  to  the  happiness  of  mankind.  These 

89 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

strifes  and  bloodshed  and  discord  must  cease, 
and  all  men  be  as  one  kindred  and  one  family. 
Let  not  a  man  glory  in  this  that  he  loves  his 
country,  let  him  rather  glory  in  this,  that  he 
loves  his  kind." 

Again  he  says:  "Oh,  children  of  men,  do  ye 
know  why  we  have  created  ye  from  one  clay? 
That  no  one  should  glorify  himself  over  the 
other.  Be  ye  ever  mindful  of  how  ye  were 
created.  Since  we  created  ye  all  from  the  same 
substance,  ye  must  be  as  one  soul,  walking  with 
the  same  feet,  eating  with  one  mouth,  and  liv- 
ing in  one  land,  that  ye  may  manifest  with 
your  being,  and  by  your  deeds  and  actions  the 
signs  of  unity,  and  the  spirit  of  oneness.  This 
is  my  counsel  to  ye,  Oh,  people  of  Light! 
Therefore  follow  it,  that  ye  may  attain  the 
fruits  of  holiness  from  the  tree  of  Might  and 
Power!" 

The  illumination  of  Baha  Ullah  to  those 
who  came  in  contact  with  him  seems  to  have 
been  always  unquestionable.  He  was  not  like 
other  men,  as  Christ  was  not,  and  all  loved 
him  without  pausing  to  question  why  it  was 
so.  Thus  in  his  imprisonment  the  most  brutal 
guards  were  selected  for  his  custodians  that 
they  might  be  immune  from  his  charm,  but 
invariably  after  they  had  held  him  in  silent 
custody  for  some  weeks  or  days,  they  slipped 

90 


THE    SHINING    PATHWAY 

away  to  those  who  believed  his  message,  and 
asked : 

"Tell  us  what  this  Wonderful  One  teaches, 
for  he  is  not  like  other  men,  and  we  would 
believe  whatever  he  said  was  true." 

A  very  lovely  story  illustrates  this  beauti- 
ful compelling  force  in  the  Revelator,  and  is 
repeated  as  authentic.  During  one  of  his  en- 
campments a  Mohammedan  holy  man  or  fakir 
had  conceived  the  idea  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
assassinate  this  sacrilegious  innovator  who  de- 
clared that  God  spoke  through  him  as  he  had 
once  spoken  through  Mohammed,  his  prophet. 
So  he  armed  himself  with  a  javelin  which  he 
could  use  with  skill,  and  creeping  under  the 
side  of  the  tent,  entered  the  presence  of  the 
Blessed  Perfection,  who  sat  alone  in  medita- 
tion. 

The  fakir  rose  and  poised  his  weapon,  and 
just  then  Baha  Ullah  lifted  his  head  and 
glanced  at  him.  The  man's  arm  dropped  and 
a  quiver  of  feeling  shuddered  through  his 
nerves.  But  he  thought  to  himself: 

"What !  Am  I  to  be  stirred  by  the  sight  of 
a  base  impostor?  It  is  my  duty  to  slay  this 
blasphemer,  and  I  must  do  it!" 

Again  he  lifted  his  arm  to  strike,  and  once 
more  the  eyes  of  Baha  Ullah  rested  upon  him 
benignantly.  His  weapon  rang  upon  the 

91 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ground,  and  a  deeper  thrill  transfixed  him,  but 
presently  recalling  all  the  power  of  his  con- 
viction, he  stooped  and  regained  his  javelin, 
then  taking  accurate  aim,  he  was  about  to 
launch  it,  when  the  Blessed  Perfection  smiled 
upon  him! 

It  was  too  much  for  the  poor  half-crazed 
fakir!  He  fell  at  the  feet  of  the  Illuminated 
one  and  confessed  his  murderous  intention, 
begging  the  prophet  to  slay  him  for  his  sin. 
Balm  Ullah,  however,  comforted  him,  and  from 
that  moment  the  poor  man  became  an  ardent 
believer,  and  never  left  the  circle  of  the  one 
who  had  shown  him  so  potently  the  wonder 
and  beauty  of  love. 

The  time  has  not  yet  come  to  write  the  life 
of  Baha  Ullah.  Perhaps  it  may  never  be 
written,  for  his  work  in  the  world  had  to  do 
with  the  significant  principle  of  his  illumina- 
tion, and  not  with  his  personality.  The  inten- 
tion of  the  present  sketch  is  merely  to  paint 
a  picture  which  will  enable  the  citizen  of  the 
western  countries  to  gain  some  idea  of  the 
remarkable  individual  whose  presence  on  our 
planet  has  already  shaken  so  deeply  the  cur- 
rent of  our  contemporary  history. 

The  effect  of  his  contact  was  evidently  so 
tonic  and  uplifting  that  all  who  were  with 
him  for  any  length  of  time  left  him  in  a  mood 

92 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

of  harmony  and  courage  which  rendered  all 
things  possible  to  them.  There  is  a  pretty 
story  of  a  remarkable  visit  which  was  made  to 
him  by  a  group  of  twenty  Mohammedan  Mul- 
lahs, who  had  quarreled  over  points  in  their 
theology,  and  could  not  agree.  They  came  to 
lay  their  case  before  Baha  Ullah,  knowing  that 
all  their  theological  learning  would  be  as 
child's  play  to  him.  They  remained  to  forget 
their  differences  in  the  reality  of  greater 
truth,  and  before  they  crossed  his  threshold 
loved  one  another. 

Professor  Brown,  of  Cambridge,  describes 
eloquently  this  surpassing  power  in  the  man- 
hood of  Baha  Ullah,  and  his  words  leave  upon 
the  imagination  a  vivid  image  of  both  the 
human  and  divine  in  this  remarkable  Mes- 
senger. Perhaps  it  was  better,  as  he  intimated 
to  his  guest,  that  his  message  should  not 
spread  in  the  western  world  until  he  had  passed 
away,  for  few  would  have  been  able  to  remem- 
ber the  significant  principle  that  the  person- 
ality of  the  prophet  is  of  no  importance,  it 
is  the  light  shining  through  him  which  lifts 
the  world.  Men  would  have  been  tempted  to 
worship  Baha  Ullah,  and  forget  the  wonder  of 
the  Light  in  the  charm  of  the  mere  man.  In 
spite  of  this  strong  personality,  however, 
everything  goes  to  show  that  after  Houssein 

93 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

AH  was  enveloped  in  the  illumination,  the  ma- 
terial part  of  him  disappeared.  He  was  hence- 
forth the  Glory  of  God,  garmented  by  those 
noble  qualities  that  had  always  been  his,  but 
visible  through  the  beautiful  body  that  was 
only  human. 

The  story  of  Abdel  Kerim's  connection  with 
the  Blessed  Perfection  makes  the  Manifestation 
very  real  to  us.  It  may  not  be  strictly  au- 
thentic in  minor  particulars,  but  is  essentially 
true,  and  enables  us  to  picture  the  life  of  Baha 
Ullah,  and  to  some  extent  the  character  of  his 
influence.  Abdel  Kerim  was  an  Egyptian  mer- 
chant of  considerable  wealth,  who  had  heard 
the  story  of  the  new  Revelation,  and  accepted 
it  with  the  ardor  of  his  eager  temperament. 

After  some  time  he  felt  that  he  could  not  be 
content  without  seeing  the  Messenger  of  God 
whose  presence  in  the  world  had  stirred  his 
heart.  So  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Acca,  where  the 
Manifestation  then  was,  and  begged  permission 
to  visit  him.  He  received  a  strange  letter  in 
response.  He  was  told  that  he  might  come  to 
Acca,  but  first  he  must  put  himself  in  a  po- 
sition where  he  owed  no  man  anything. 

Abdel  Kerim  had  carried  on  his  business  for 
many  years  in  the  customary  Oriental  fashion, 
sending  his  caravans  across  the  desert  laden 
with  a  precious  freight  of  riches.  He  had  long 

94 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

credits  everywhere,  and  probably  never  dreamed 
of  doing  business  on  a  cash  basis.  His  traffic 
was  constantly  expanding,  perhaps  he  was  not 
too  scrupulous  in  his  dealings.  We  may  be 
certain  it  had  not  occurred  to  him  that  his  in- 
terest in  the  new  Day  of  God  would  transform 
his  methods  of  trafficking  with  his  fellow  man. 

A  successful  merchant  is  apt  to  fall  into  the 
habit  of  considering  his  own  advantage  first. 
Naturally  Abdel  Kerim  was  absorbed  in  the 
conduct  of  his  rapidly  broadening  trade  con- 
nections, for  he  was  a  man  of  fifty  years  when 
this  momentous  influence  came  into  his  life. 
As  the  story  develops  we  can  see  that  it  re- 
sembles in  some  respects  the  problem  which 
Christ  presented  to  the  rich  young  man,  but 
Abdel  Kerim  accepted  without  hesitation  the 
ultimatum  offered  him.  Before  all  else  he 
wanted  to  see  the  Manifestation  of  God,  and 
everything  became  of  secondary  importance  in 
comparison  with  this  event. 

He  began,  therefore,  to  arrange  his  affairs 
with  this  point  in  view.  Previously  he  had 
thought  only  of  expansion,  of  increase.  Now 
his  one  desire  was  to  reach  the  condition  where 
he  would  owe  no  man  anything.  So  he  began 
to  pay  off.  As  money  came  in,  instead  of  in- 
vesting it  again,  he  paid  a  debt  with  it,  until  at 

95 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

length  after  five  years  he  had  attained  his  goal, 
and  he  did  not  owe  a  penny! 

But  in  this  careful  accounting  of  outlay  and 
income  his  business  had  dwindled  away  to  noth- 
ing. His  longing  to  see  the  Blessed  Perfec- 
tion had  completely  absorbed  him,  so  that  the 
love  of  wealth  had  died  out  of  his  heart,  and  at 
the  moment  of  realization  he  had  just  money 
enough  left  to  pay  a  deck  passage  on  the 
steamer  to  Haifa,  and  leave  in  his  wife's  hands 
a  sum  sufficient  to  provide  for  the  family  ex- 
penses during  his  absence. 

But  he  did  not  hesitate.  The  luxurious 
merchant  had  never  before  traveled  except  as 
a  first-class  passenger,  and  as  he  stepped  across 
the  gang  plank  a  shawl  upon  his  arm,  which 
was  his  only  protection  from  the  weather, 
dropped  into  the  water,  and  at  that  season  the 
nights  were  chill !  Nevertheless  he  went  on  with 
a  light  heart.  Was  he  not  near  the  consumma- 
tion of  all  his  hopes?  His  soul  was  alive  with 
prayer,  and  he  did  not  know  the  wind  was 
chill! 

Mean  while  Baha  Ullah  warned  his  family 
that  he  was  about  to  receive  a  most  honored 
guest,  greater  than  any  that  had  yet  crossed 
his  threshold.  He  sent  an  emissary  with  a  car- 
riage to  the  dock  at  Haifa,  which  is  the  sea- 
port of  Acca,  with  strict  orders  to  bring  this 

96 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

noble  guest  to  him  without  delay.  But  char- 
acteristically he  told  the  attendant  nothing  as 
to  the  real  character  of  the  man  he  was  to 
meet.  Here  was  such  a  test  of  faith  and  also 
discrimination  as  he  was  quite  apt  to  impose 
upon  those  about  him.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter 
to  live  in  the  household  of  a  Blessed  Perfec- 
tion whose  mind  necessarily  dwells  in  a  world 
of  stars! 

The  attendant  watched  carefully  the  dis- 
embarkation of  passengers  at  the  landing  of 
the  steamer.  He  was  looking  eagerly  for  an 
ambassador  with  a  noble  retinue,  for  a  prince 
with  many  orders  upon  his  breast,  for  a  per- 
sonage resplendent  in  broadcloth  and  jewels. 
But  no  such  individual  stepped  upon  the  quay. 
In  fact  the  passengers  seemed  an  especially 
polyglot  assemblage,  and  the  emissary  paid  no 
attention  to  the  shabby  looking  middle  aged 
man,  who  glanced  about  in  disappointment,  as 
if  expecting  some  one,  and  then  seated  himself 
quietly  upon  a  bench. 

Abdel  Kerim  had  been  assured  that  some  one 
from  the  household  of  the  Manifestation  would 
come  in  search  of  him,  though  he  had  not 
written  warning  of  his  expected  arrival.  He 
had  no  money  to  pay  the  necessary  carriage 
hire  to  Acca.  His  faith  had  carried  him  so 
far,  but  now  it  suddenly  failed  him,  and  he 

97 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

sat  forlornly  upon  the  bench,  while  clouds  of 
black  despair  settled  over  him. 

The  emissary  returned  alone  to  Acca,  and 
reported  that  the  guest  had  not  appeared.  He 
thought  it  strange,  for  he  knew  that  Baha 
Ullah's  vision  was  never  mistaken,  and  he  was 
familiar  with  all  that  transpired  about  him. 
The  Blessed  Perfection  looked  keenly  at  his 
factotum  as  the  message  was  delivered,  and  re- 
plied : 

"Ah,  your  eyes  were  not  far  seeing  enough 
to  recognize  my  princely  guest.  I  will  send 
Abbas  Effendi  to  find  him.  He  has  clearer 
vision." 

So  Abbas  Effendi  took  his  way  to  the  dock, 
and  though  the  quick  twilight  of  the  Orient 
had  fallen  before  he  reached  the  spot,  he  knew 
immediately  the  disappointed  figure  huddled 
upon  the  bench.  This  was  the  royal  guest  his 
father  expected! 

He  quickly  introduced  himself,  explaining 
that  the  individual  sent  to  meet  the  stranger, 
had  failed  to  find  him.  Then  he  added: 

"Do  you  wish  to  go  on  to  Acca  to-night, 
or  will  you  wait  until  morning?" 

It  was  customary  for  pilgrims  to  spend  some 
hours  in  prayer  and  purification  before  enter- 
ing the  presence  of  Baha  Ullah,  and  Abdel 
Kerim  had  faithfully  accomplished  his  duty  in 

98 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

this  regard.  But  sitting  alone  and  neglected 
during  the  long  afternoon,  bitter  thoughts  had 
invaded  his  consciousness.  He  looked  back  re- 
gretfully to  the  fortune  he  had  lost  in  prepara- 
tion for  what?  For  this  day  of  waiting  alone 
and  penniless  for  a  possible  interview  with  a 
fictitious  prophet!  So  events  had  painted 
themselves  in  his  anguished  soul,  but  in  the 
presence  of  the  gentle  messenger  who  had 
sought  him  at  last,  suspicion  vanished,  and  he 
longed  for  hours  of  prayer  to  wash  the  stain 
of  doubt  from  his  tormented  inward  self. 

Abbas  Effendi  knew  instinctively  that  his 
new  friend  would  not  wish  to  seek  a  hotel  at 
his  expense,  so  finding  that  he  preferred  to 
wait  until  morning  for  the  journey  to  Acca, 
he  unbuttoned  the  long  cloak  that  enveloped 
him,  seated  himself  beside  the  pilgrim,  and 
wrapped  both  in  its  ample  folds.  So  they 
passed  the  night  praying  together,  lost  in  that 
ecstasy  of  prayer  that  brings  realization. 

Then  in  the  morning  they  turned  toward 
Acca,  and  Abdel  Kerim  going  to  the  Blessed 
Perfection  with  a  radiant  heart  found  full  re- 
ward in  his  lovely  presence  for  the  five  lonely 
years  of  seeking  that  had  prefaced  his  pilgrim- 
age. We  may  be  certain  also  that  his  inward 
wealth  became  so  great  he  quite  forgot  the  flat- 
ness of  his  pocketbook! 

99 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

After  he  had  been  in  the  household  some 
days,  Baha  Ullah  said  to  his  guest: 

"You  have  suffered  greatly  before  coming 
here,  and  I  see  that  your  heart  is  pure.  I  love 
you  very  much,  tell  me  what  you  desire  most, 
for  I  will  grant  you  three  wishes." 

The  story  here  begins  to  partake  somewhat 
of  the  fairy  tale,  and  may  contain  an  element 
of  allegory,  though  no  one  who  realizes  the 
power  of  Baha  Ullah  could  doubt  his  ability 
to  fulfill  wishes.  There  is  deep  truth  in  the 
little  drama. 

Abdel  Kerim  had  learned  his  lesson  well,  and 
could  not  ask  for  material  things.  He  had  but 
one  desire  in  his  soul.  He  wished  to  remain  by 
the  side  of  Baha  Ullah  forever,  so  that  even 
death  itself  should  not  separate  him  from  his 
Beloved. 

The  Blessed  Perfection  hesitated  a  moment 
over  the  second  half  of  the  request,  as  the 
legend  runs,  for,  indeed,  the  ardent  one  had 
asked  a  difficult  thing.  But  at  length  he 
granted  it  all.  He  promised  that  even  death 
should  not  remove  this  eager  lover  from  the 
shining  circle  to  which  he  had  attained. 

So  Abdel  Kerim  removed  his  family  to 
Cairo,  where  he  carried  on  a  business,  though 
he  spent  most  of  his  time  in  the  household  of 

100 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Baha  Ullah  at  Acca.  In  the  succeeding  years 
he  made  two  fortunes  and  lost  them,  dying  a 
poor  man.  But  he  lived  to  be  nearly  ninety 
years  old,  with  no  diminution  of  youth  or 
vigor,  and  he  was  exactly  the  same  man, 
whether  he  had  just  made  or  lost  a  fortune, 
for  the  possession  of  money  was  no  longer  of 
any  importance  of  him.  He  would  walk  miles 
to  talk  with  some  one  who  was  in  love  with 
God,  and  was  seeking  truth,  and  he  was  always 
a  most  loving  person. 

The  Egyptian  was  naturally  a  man  of  ma- 
terial instincts,  yet  the  grace  of  God  was  in 
him,  and  tradition  says  that  his  consuming  de- 
sire was  fulfilled.  Baha  Ullah  passed  from 
earth  some  years  before  his  ardent  lover,  but 
the  veil  between  them  did  not  conceal  the  radi- 
ance of  the  Departed. 

Among  the  writings  of  Baha  Ullah  the  book 
entitled  the  Ighan* holds  a  peculiar  place.  In 
it  the  enlightened  author  has  explained  for  the 
student  the  theory  of  the  succession  of  God's 
Prophets  and  their  illumination  which  has  been 
lightly  sketched  in  the  preceding  pages.  But 
the  Ighan  glitters  with  eloquent  passages,  not 
especially  limited  to  the  exposition  of  its  lead- 
ing motif,  and  the  two  which  follow  illustrate 
that  feeling  in  regard  to  wealth  in  the  Blessed 

101 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Perfection  which  no  doubt  made  him  appreciate 
profoundly  the  conquest  Abdel  Kerim  achieved 
over  the  acquisitive  man  in  his  own  breast. 

The  first  one  paints  a  little  picture  of  Jesus 
which  enables  one  to  realize  what  his  disap- 
pointment must  have  been  when  the  rich  young 
man  turned  from  him,  and  the  second  is  a 
story  of  the  Sixth  Imaum,  such  as  a  poet  de- 
lights to  recall. 

"Thus  one  day  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary 
seated  himself  upon  a  chair,  and  voiced  his 
feeling  through  the  melodies  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  such  words  as  these: 

"Oh,  people!  My  food  is  from  the  herbs 
of  the  earth,  by  which  I  satisfy  my  hunger. 
My  bed  is  the  bare  ground;  during  the  night 
my  lamp  is  the  light  of  the  moon,  and  I  have 
no  steed  but  my  feet.  Who  upon  earth  is 
richer  than  I? 

"I  swear  by  God  that  a'hundred  thousand 
wealths  revolve  around  this  poverty,  and  a  hun- 
dred thousand  kingdoms  of  glory  seek  after 
this  lowliness.  Should'st  thou  attain  to  a 
sprinkling  of  the  ocean  of  these  significances, 
thou  wilt  abandon  the  world  of  phenomena  and 
existence,  and  sacrifice  thy  life  around  the 
burning  lamp  as  does  the  'bird  of  fire.' 

"A  similar  instance  is  related  of  His  Holi- 
ness Sadik.  On  a  certain  day  one  of  his  fol- 

102 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

lowers  complained  of  poverty  before  His  Holi- 
ness. That  Eternal  Beauty  said: 

"  'Thou  art  rich,  and  hast  drunk  from  the 
wine  of  wealth.' 

"The  indigent  one  astonished  at  the  words  of 
that  brilliant  countenance,  said: 

"  'How  am  I  rich,  when  I  am  in  need  of  a 
single  coin?' 

''His  Holiness  replied: 

"  'Hast  thou  not  love  for  us  ?' 

"He  said:  'Yes,  oh,  Thou  Son  of  the  Mes- 
senger of  God!' 

"  'Wilt  thou  sell  it  for  one  thousand  dinars 
of  gold?'  inquired  Sadik. 

"He  answered:  'I  would  not  give  it  for  the 
world  and  all  that  is  therein !' 

"His  Holiness  said:  'How  can  one  be  poor 
who  possesses  something  which  he  will  not  ex- 
change for  the  world?' ' 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   IMPRISONMENT   AT  ACCA. 

One  remarkable  fact  in  the  life  of  Baha 
Ullah  is  found  in  his  announcement  of  his  own 
mission  to  the  rulers  of  the  world.  The  Bab 

103 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

had  sent  letters  to  the  Shah  and  the  Sultan, 
proclaiming  his  appearance  as  the  long  ex- 
pected Mahdi,  and  Baha  Ullah  wrote  to  the 
crowned  heads  of  Europe  and  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  saying  in  most  dignified  and 
stately  phrase  that  he  had  come  to  inaugurate 
the  "Most  Great  Peace,"  and  that  he  was  the 
reappearance  in  the  world  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
which  had  been  promised  for  this  time. 

Napoleon  3d  received  the  message  with 
scorn,  and  ground  it  under  his  heel.  Victoria 
of  England  laid  it  away  respectfully,  saying: 
"If  it  is  true,  history  will  reveal  it."  President 
Grant  naturally  looked  upon  it  as  something 
quite  beyond  his  ken,  but  Alexander  £d,  of 
Russia,  was  so  impressed  by  the  dignity  and 
power  of  the  epistle  that  he  sent  an  ambassador 
in  search  of  its  originator.  He  remained  al- 
ways afterward  in  communication  with  Baha 
Ullah,  and  the  books  of  the  Manifestation  were 
always  forwarded  to  him  upon  their  comple- 
tion. If  he  had  been  strong  enough  to  follow 
the  counsels  of  the  Blessed  Perfection  he  would 
have  carried  to  a  more  glorious  conclusion  the 
noble  plans  of  his  early  reign.  But  at  least 
he  founded  the  policy  of  international  peace, 
the  recognition  of  which  has  continued  to  be  a 
p.'irt  of  the  foreign  attitude  of  his  successors. 
No  one  who  has  followed  the  recent  history  of 

104 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

this  pain-racked  land  can  fail  to  wish  that  its 
rulers  had  learned  more  complete  lessons  from 
the  great  light  of  Balm  Ullah. 

In  the  Bool'  of  Akdas,  the  Spirit  breathing 
through  him  cries: 

"Blessed  are  the  ignorant  who  seek  the 
spring  of  my  knowledge,  and  the  lowly  who 
grasp  the  robe  of  my  grandeur!  Blessed  are 
the  heedless  who  maintain  my  commemoration ! 
Blessed  is  the  spirit  resurrected  in  my  Breath, 
and  thereby  entering  My  Kingdom!  Blessed 
is  the  soul  who  is  shaken  by  my  nearness,  and 
attracted  by  the  kingdom  of  my  command! 
Blessed  is  the  eye  which  has  seen,  and  the  ear 
which  has  heard,  and  the  heart  which  has  known 
the  Lord  the  Possessor  of  Glory,  and  the  king- 
dom of  Grandeur  and  Might!  Blessed  are 
they  who  have  attained !  Blessed  is  he  who  is 
brightened  by  the  sun  of  my  Word!  Blessed 
is  he  whose  head  is  adomed  by  the  crown  of 
my  Love !" 

Baha  Ullah  and  his  family  had  been  placed 
under  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan,  and  were 
transferred  by  him  to  his  prison  city  of  Acca 
in  1868.  The  Sultan  dared  not  execute  Baha 
Ullah,  and  as  no  prisoner  had  ever  survived 
confinement  in  Acca  longer  than  three  months, 
it  seemed  as  if  his  dctainmcnt  there  would  solve 
many  difficulties. 

105 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Once  immured  within  these  dread  walls  the 
devoted  people  were  treated  with  the  utmost 
severity.  Baha  Ullah  himself  was  bound  to 
the  floor  in  a  cell  so  small  that  he  could  neither 
stand  erect  nor  stretch  at  length  within  its 
limits.  His  family,  with  their  attendants,  were 
herded  like  cattle  in  an  open  pen,  and  as  it 
was  the  rainy  season  when  they  arrived  in  Acca 
their  sufferings  could  only  be  termed  intoler- 
able. Mr.  Myron  Phelps,  in  his  volume  entitled 
The  Life  of  Abbas  Effendi,  has  written  a  vivid 
description  of  this  painful  ordeal,  as  it  was  re- 
lated by  the  older  sister  of  Abbas  Effendi. 

Such  gentle  people  could  only  have  been 
subjected  to  these  cruelties  with  the  intention 
of  shortening  their  lives,  and  presently  all  fell 
ill,  except  Abbas  Effendi  and  Baha  Ullah  him- 
self. Abbas  Effendi  seems  to  have  been  always 
the  intermediary  between  his  family  and  its 
jailors  or  the  public.  Moved  by  pity  for  his 
companions  he  went  to  his  father  and  asked 
what  could  be  done  to  relieve  the  sufferings 
of  those  so  dear  to  both,  and  how  their  anguish 
could  be  assuaged.  Perhaps  in  that  sad  hour 
his  faith  failed  him  and  he  wondered  if  all  were, 
indeed,  to  die  victims  of  the  Sultan's  vile  and 
wicked  policy.  Martyrdom  he  would  have  wel- 
comed with  joy,  but  this  process  of  slow  and 
shameful  extinction  was  hard  to  endure. 

106 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Baha  Ullah  listened  to  his  son's  impassioned 
words,  and  it  would  have  seemed  to  an  onlooker 
as  if  he  were  indeed  powerless  to  do  aught  for 
the  unfortunate  victims  of  a  dark  tyranny. 
But  the  Breath  of  God  that  could  have  broken 
all  bonds  was  upon  him,  the  Comforter,  the 
Sustainer! 

So  he  wrote  a  wonderful  little  prayer  and 
gave  it  to  Abbas  Effendi,  telling  him  to  read  it 
aloud  to  all  who  were  ill,  and  be  sure  that  they 
learned  it  by  heart.  No  other  steps  need  be 
taken,  all  would  recover,  and  conditions  would 
presently  change. 

Strangely  enough  health  returned  even  as 
the  Blessed  Perfection  had  promised,  and 
meanwhile  the  Governor  of  Acca  had  not  re- 
mained unaware  of  the  sublime  patience  with 
which  his  unusual  prisoners  had  borne  their 
sufferings.  He  sent  for  Abbas  Effendi  and 
after  a  talk  with  him  removed  the  family  to 
the  military  barracks  of  the  fortress  city, 
where,  though  they  were  by  no  means  what  we 
would  term  comfortable,  they  were  at  least 
assured  decency  and  privacy. 

After  several  years  of  this  seclusion  they 
were  assigned  a  residence  and  allowed  to  live 
within  the  walls  on  parole,  a  liberty  which 
later  on  was  much  extended  by  the  Sultan.  He 
was  so  impressed  by  the  elevation  of  character 

107 


TPIE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

manifested  by  Baha  Ullah,  that,  though  he 
could  not  grant  him  freedom,  as  the  Sultan 
was  the  spiritual  head  of  Islam,  and  Baha 
Ullah  a  great  heretic,  he  established  him  in  the 
royal  palace  outside  the  walls  of  Acca,  and 
appointed  him  a  pension  commensurate  with 
his  rank.  The  Blessed  Perfection  went  freely 
to  Haifa  whenever  he  chose,  and  received  every 
one  who  came  to  him,  so  that  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life  were  passed  in  comparative  freedom. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Abdel  Kerim  entered 
the  household  of  Baha  Ullah,  and  lived  in  close 
connection  with  him  until  the  close  of  his  life. 

He  spoke  of  the  Blessed  Perfection  as  exer- 
cising a  singular^  exhilarating  effect  upon  all 
who  approached  him. 

"I  never  could  remain  in  the  room  with  him 
more  than  twenty  minutes  at  a  time,"  he  con- 
fessed, "then  I  would  be  obliged  to  go  outside 
and  walk  up  and  down  the  corridor,  for  awhile, 
until  I  regained  by  poise.  The  feeling  I  ex- 
perienced was  that  of  a  happiness  so  extreme 
that  it  became  excitement,  and  was  unbear- 
able." 

He  described  one  occasion  when  he  was  in 
the  garden  with  the  Manifestation,  and  made 
tea  for  him.  Then  they  walked  up  and  down 
the  garden  paths  together.  The  subject  of 
conversation  was  always  the  same,  but  handled 

108 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

with  infinite  variety.  They  talked  of  the  love 
of  God,  and  the  condition  of  mankind,  the 
suffering  of  the  world  which  could  so  easily  be 
relieved  by  an  increase  of  God's  love  in  men's 
hearts. 

The  courts  of  all  nations  seemed  to  be  re- 
vealed to  the  eyes  of  the  Glory  of  God,  and  he 
discussed  their  policies  with  remarkable  acu- 
men, foreseeing  the  results  of  their  selfish  and 
short-sighted  action.  Thus  he  warned  the 
pope  that  he  would  lose  his  temporal  power, 
before  the  invasion  of  Victor  Emanuel,  who 
conquered  Rome,  and  he  s^arned  Napoleon 
Third  that  the  Franco-German  war  would  re- 
sult in  disaster  for  France. 

The  delight  of  association  with  Baha  Ullah 
seems  to  have  been  felt  by  every  one  who  came 
in  contact  with  him.  There  is  a  wonderful 
old  man  in  Acca  who  expresses  this.  His  name 
is  Mir-za  Haider  Ali,  he  is  eighty  years  old, 
and  seems  to  possess  the  youth  of  a  boy  of 
twenty,  yet  he  languished  for  years  in  the 
prison  of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt.  When  Gen- 
eral Gordon  entered  the  country,  and  opened 
the  prison  doors,  he  asked  Haider  Ali,  "What 
was  your  crime?"  And  the  victim  of  fanatic 
intolerance  replied: 

"I  taught  religious  tolerance  and  freedom, 
and  unity!" 

109 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

It  certainly  was  written  upon  him  that  such 
had  been  the  cause  of  his  incarceration,  and 
big  hearted  General  Gordon  set  him  free  in- 
stantly. Whereupon  he  went  straight  to 
Persia,  and  began  again  to  teach  the  truth, 
the  advocacy  of  which  had  deprived  him  of  so 
many  years  of  sunlight.  But  having  full  sun- 
light in  his  heart,  he  was  able  to  bear  the  trial 
without  bitterness. 

He  is  a  remarkable  personality  endowed 
with  the  joy  of  a  child,  and  the  philosophic 
mind  of  a  great  man.  When  he  described  to 
the  writer  his  single  meeting  with  Baha  Ullah, 
his  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  for  the  moment 
his  voice  failed  him. 

"It  was  upon  the  street  that  I  saw  him,"  he 
said  at  length.  "I  was  only  in  Acca  for  a  day, 
and  I  feared  that  I  would  not  have  the  privi- 
lege of  resting  my  eyes  upon  him.  I  followed 
him  for  some  time  trying  to  find  courage  to 
address  him.  At  length  I  passed  him,  but  still 
my  courage  failed  me.  Suddenly  I  paused  and 
went  toward  him  determined  to  fall  at  his  feet. 
I  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to  do  nothing  but  kiss 
his  blessed  feet!  Then  he  hurried  to  me,  took 
me  in  his  arms,  and  embraced  me,  speaking 
tender  words,  and  repeating: 

"You  had  to  do  it !    You  had  to  do  it !" 

Haider  Ali  is  a  scholar,  a  thinker,  what  we 

no 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

call  a  gentleman,  yet  after  more  than  twenty- 
five  years  of  eager  and  progressive  existence, 
after  years  of  cruel  imprisonment,  after  vivid 
experiences  which  develop  manhood,  and  render 
sentimentalism  impossible,  words  die  upon  his 
lips  when  he  endeavors  to  describe  the  supreme 
moment  in  which  the  arms  of  the  Blessed  Per- 
fection encircled  him  and  he  lay  upon  his 
breast. 

Mirza  Abul  Fazl  is  another  unique  and 
splendid  personality  who  came  into  personal 
contact  with  Baha  Ullah.  He  had  been  tutor 
in  the  Shah's  family,  was  a  man  of  great  learn- 
ing and  inspiration,  but  had  been  thrown  into 
prison  for  his  adherence  to  the  new  faith.  His 
sufferings  were  so  severe  that  his  health  was 
permanently  broken,  and  when  he  was  at  last 
set  free,  it  was  only  to  hear  the  decree  of 
banishment  pronounced  upon  him. 

Baha  Ullah  spoke  to  him  with  great  tender- 
ness of  the  trials  that  were  before  him,  of  the 
lonely  years  he  should  spend  in  poverty  and 
exile,  where  nevertheless  he  would  still  labor 
for  the  cause  of  God.  Then  he  concluded: 

"I  want  you  to  remember  that  wherever  you 
are,  no  matter  how  poor  and  how  lonely  you 
may  appear  to  be,  if  you  but  think  of  me,  I 
shall  be  with  you  instantly.  In  reality,  you 
will  never  be  alone,  you  will  never  be  helpless !" 

Ill 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Then  he  gave  the  traveler  a  little  prayer 
which  he  had  written  for  him,  to  be  repeated  in 
the  moment  of  danger  or  deep  distress,  when 
he  must  know  that  God  was  near. 

"And  I  never  pronounced  the  lovely  words 
without  the  sense  of  his  presence,  and  imme- 
diate relief  from  the  pressure  that  bound  me!" 
declared  Mirza  Abul  Fazl. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  modern  man  hurried, 
jostled,  smothered  in  material  conditions,  to 
realize  at  first  the  significance  of  such  stories, 
but  surely  we  have  all  experienced  the  exalta- 
tion or  depression  wrhich  assails  us  in  our  con- 
tact with  different  persons.  Sometimes  it  is 
a  mere  question  of  nerves  and  passion,  but 
there  is  a  tonic  effect  that  is  different.  So 
Trelawney  and  Williams  relate  that  after 
spending  some  time  with  the  poet  Shelley,  they 
felt  as  if  walking  on  air,  and  our  own  Ameri- 
can painter,  Wyatt  Eaton,  has  described  a 
similar  result  from  his  interview  with  the  great 
artist  Fran9ois  Millet,  the  year  before  the  lat- 
ter's  death. 

Eaton  had  dined  with  the  family  at  their 
own  simple  table,  and  lingered  until  tru 
o'clock,  unable  to  tear  himself  away  from  the 
charm  of  Millet's  eager  disquisition  on  subjects 
of  art,  of  inspiration,  of  God  and  man.  It 
was  in  1874,  Millet  was  at  the  end  of  his  long 

112 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

life  in  which  he  had  sought  earnestly  for  the 
expression  of  the  lofty  impulse  he  felt  within 
him.  He  was  very  near  to  God,  and  was 
irradiated  by  the  splendor  of  his  high  relation- 
ship. He  himself,  in  his  poverty,  at  his  frugal 
table,  dressed  in  his  "blue  jeans,"  was  ex- 
periencing the  splendor  of  life,  and  transmitted 
so  much  of  it  to  the  young  American  student 
who  had  been  wise  enough  to  seek  him,  that 
after  the  interview  was  closed  Eaton  walked 
miles  across  the  country  to  relieve  his  nervous 
tension.  He  was  inexpressibly  happy,  but  felt  as 
if  he  should  never  sleep  again,  as  if  in  fact  his 
body  had  disappeared  and  he  "walked  on  air." 

The  circle  which  gathered  around  the 
hearthstone  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  in 
Chelsea  experienced  the  same  thing.  They 
talked  until  morning,  not  knowing  that  the 
night  had  passed  and  felt  no  fatigue,  because 
of  the  noble  ideas  which  possessed  them. 

Such  experiences  enable  us  to  understand  in 
a  measure  the  delightfully  inspiring  influence 
which  Baha  Ullah  exercised  upon  all  who 
entered  his  environment.  If  an  ordinary 
human  being  who  has  sincerely  endeavored  to 
live  according  to  the  higher  law  of  God  can 
rouse  the  spirit  of  others,  surely  one  upon 
whom  the  Breath  of  God  rests  must  become  a 
potential  tonic  to  all  whom  he  encounters. 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

This  tonic  effect  of  nearness  to  God  has,  of 
course,  been  manifest  in  all  the  great  religious 
reformers.  So  Savonarola  won  the  hearts  of 
Botticelli  and  Michel  Angelo  as  a  permanent 
possession.  Even  in  that  wealth-worshipping 
day  of  the  late  renaissance  Angelo  never  for- 
got for  a  moment  that  the  splendor  of  life 
lies  in  our  expression  of  the  ideal,  not  in  any 
wealth  of  material  things. 

So  there  is  a  splendor  of  life  in  that  moment 
when  Savonarola  refused  to  keep  the  gold  that 
Lorenzo  di  Medici  had  laid  upon  the  contribu- 
tion plate  of  San  Marco.  It  looked  like  a 
bribe,  and  the  faithful  prior  knew  that  the 
poor  convent  was  richer  without  it. 

We  can  imagine  the  feeling  of  the  publican 
when  Christ  sat  at  his  table,  of  John,  the  be- 
loved disciple,  when  his  head  rested  upon  the 
Master's  shoulder,  of  Mary  Magdalene  when 
she  poured  her  precious  ointment  over  his 
travel  worn  feet!  These  last  are  the  surpass- 
ing experiences,  because  the  great  Messenger 
of  God,  the  Saviour,  the  Manifestation  is  like 
no  other.  The  Glory  about  him  touches  all 
who  come  near,  and  the  contact  can  never  be 
effaced  nor  forgotten. 

One  very  substantial  result  of  this  divine 
tonic  has  been  experienced  by  the  people  of 
Acca.  Baha  Ullah  and  his  family  were  sent 

114 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

there  to  die,  but  instead  of  that  they  have 
transformed  Acca  into  a  city  of  health  and 
refreshment,  and  the  dangerous,  depressing  ele- 
ments of  the  climate  and  locality  have  entirely 
disappeared. 

In  former  days  the  currents  of  the  ocean 
threw  upon  the  seashore  masses  of  unsightly 
and  ill  smelling  debris ;  dead  fish,  seaweed  and 
all  the  malodorous  contents  of  the  tidal  ebb 
seemed  to  be  flung  there,  and  no  flood  was  ever 
full  enough  to  carry  them  off.  So  they  lay 
rotting  in  the  hot  sun  of  the  tropics,  breeding 
fevers  for  the  destruction  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  Sultan  would  permit  no  measures  for  the 
purification  of  the  harbor  and  shore.  He 
wished  his  prison  city  to  remain  as  unwhole- 
some as  possible  because  it  was  intended  to  be 
a  place  of  death. 

After  the  Glory  of  God  had  dwelt  within  the1 
walls  for  some  time  there  came  a  change.  An 
alteration  in  the  ocean  currents  became  evi- 
dent, the  unsightly  accumulation  upon  the 
shore  was  washed  away,  the  offal  of  the  region 
was  carried  far  out  into  the  purifying  ocean, 
and  the  silvery  strand  of  Acca  was  played 
upon  only  by  glittering  blue  waters  and  fra- 
grant breezes. 

Meanwhile  a  very  wealthy  convert  one  day 
came  into  the  presence  of  Baha  Ullah.  He  was 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

an  Arabian  Sheik  of  enormous  possessions,  and 
he  had  planned  to  place  an  immense  sum  in  the 
hands  of  the  Manifestation  as  a  symbol  of  his 
devotion.  The  Blessed  Perfection,  however, 
would  not  accept  money  from  his  followers. 
One  significant  point  in  this  remarkable  move- 
ment has  always  been  that  its  beautiful  teach- 
ings are  never  given  for  money.  They  are  re- 
garded as  the  gift  of  God,  which  must  be  freely 
imparted,  not  sold. 

Again  and  again  the  old  Sheik  proffered  his 
gift  and  it  was  refused.  At  length  Baha  Ullah 
saw  how  deeply  disappointed  was  his  follower. 
The  Sheik  was  an  old  man,  and  had  felt  that 
he  would  die  more  happily  if  he  had  bestowed 
this  money.  So,  as  his  friend  was  turning 
away  in  sadness,  the  Blessed  Perfection  recalled 
him  and  said: 

"Do  you  really  want  to  give  me  this 
money?"  and  when  his  noble  guest  positively 
fell  upon  his  knees  in  affirmation,  he  went  on: 

"I  can  not  take  money,  but  if  you  wish  to 
make  me  very  happy  you  can  do  this  for  me. 
The  people  of  Acca  suffer  for  water.  All  the 
water  of  the  valley  is  brackish  and  unwhole- 
some, but  yonder  beyond  the  mountains," 
pointing  to  the  distant  hills,  "is  a  bottomless 
lake  of  pure  mountain  water.  Pipe  it  down  to 
the  city,  and  bring  it  up  in  a  fountain,  where 

116 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

it  will  be  free  to  all.  But  that  will  cost  a  great 
deal  of  money!" 

Do  you  think  any  human  being  could  have 
considered  money  in  such  a  moment?  The 
splendor  of  life  surrounded  the  old  Sheik,  and 
his  happiness  was  supreme  as  he  hurried  away 
to  perform  the  behest  of  the  Messenger  of 
God.  To-day  the  people  of  Acca  have  this  de- 
licious water  piped  into  their  houses,  and  the 
spectre  of  fever  is  still  farther  banished  from 
their  hearthstones. 

From  the  moment  that  Baha  Ullah  became 
accessible  to  his  followers,  so  that  even  a 
glimpse  of  his  radiant  face  would  reward  a 
toilsome  journey  to  Acca,  throngs  of  pilgrims 
turned  toward  the  prison  city,  eager  to  carry 
away  a  memory  of  the  Glory  of  God,  and  eager 
also  to  do  something  to  show  the  ardor  of  their 
faith.  They  soon  discovered  that  Baha  Ullah 
would  not  accept  gifts  of  value,  but  that  he 
loved  flowers  and  rare  plants.  So  they  began 
to  carry  with  them  seeds,  slips  and  roots,  from 
the  flora  of  their  own  locality,  especially  such 
as  were  fragrant,  unusual  and  beautiful.  Tra- 
dition has  it  that  no  frail  atom  of  a  delicate 
shrub,  wrapped  in  moss,  and  borne  across  the 
desert  ever  failed  to  live  and  thrive  when 
planted  at  length  in  the  grateful  soil  of  much 
blessed  Acca. 

117 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

The  result  has  been  the  charming  garden  of 
the  Rizwan,  surely  one  of  the  loveliest  spots 
in  the  universe.  Here  are  plants  and  flowers 
from  Egypt,  Arabia,  and  India,  fragrant 
violets,  crimson  passion  flowers,  red  anemones, 
tea  roses,  flowers  so  delicate  and  white  they 
are  like  frost  in  the  tropics,  and  blossoms  that 
seem  to  weigh  down  the  plant  that  bears  them 
with  their  rich  fragrance.  Oranges  ripen 
here,  and  rich  deep  colored  roses  like  those  of 
our  American  Beauty  variety,  but  more 
sweetly  odorous.  The  Blessed  Perfection  was 
especially  fond  of  these  magnificent  blooms, 
and  was  accustomed  to  water  their  roots  with 
his  own  hand. 

The  old  gardener  who  tended  the  Rizwan  is 
still  living,  and  has  many  wonderful  stories  to 
tell  of  his  beloved  master  whom  he  served  so 
faithfully.  One  of  these  which  he  is  particu- 
larly fond  of  relating  reminds  us  of  a  day 
when  he  had  planned  to  serve  tea  for  Baha 
Ullah,  and  though  a  terrific  storm  of  wind  and 
rain  arose,  the  Manifestation  came  to  the 
garden  just  the  same,  because  he  would  not 
disappoint  his  devoted  attendant. 

Another  of  his  narrations  will  be  less  easily 
believed  by  the  western  reader,  but  it  is  vouched 
for,  not  only  by  the  gardener  who  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly intelligent  man,  but  by  others  as 

118 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

well.  To  followers  of  modern  cults  who  are 
accustomed  to  regard  the  outward  world  as 
"phenomenal,"  it  will  not  appear  in  the  least 
unreasonable. 

A  pest  of  locusts  had  invaded  the  country, 
and  was  devouring  everything  in  its  pathway. 
Nothing  escaped  the  rapacious  insects,  and  the 
gardener  of  the  Rizwan  marked  with  horror 
the  advance  of  the  swarm,  and  knew  exactly 
on  what  day  the  creatures  would  strip  his 
Paradise  of  verdure  and  fragrance.  On  that 
day  Baha  Ullah  was  in  the  garden,  and  its 
guardian  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the 
Blessed  Perfection,  begging  him  to  save  the 
precious  bit  of  loveliness. 

"Why  should  I  preserve  my  garden  when 
all  else  is  destroyed?"  demanded  the  Manifesta- 
tion, "Would  that  be  just?" 

"But  it  is  not  for  your  sake  that  I  ask  it," 
implored  the  gardener,  well  knowing  how  to 
appeal  to  the  generous  heart  to  which  he 
spoke.  "Think  of  all  the  care  I  have  taken,  and 
all  the  labor  I  have  spent  to  make  it  beautiful, 
and  think  of  all  the  people  who  love  it,  and 
whose  gifts  are  a  part  of  it!  Its  destruction 
will  bring  pain  to  all  these  souls,  and  it  may 
never  be  so  perfect  again !" 

At  last  Baha  Ullah,  convinced  that  it  was 
right  to  use  his  power  for  such  an  end,  rose 

119 


THE   SPIINING   PATHWAY 

and  approached  that  side  of  the  garden  wall 
from  which  the  swarm  of  locusts  in  a  black 
cloud  was  already  plainly  visible.  On  they 
came,  nearer  and  nearer.  The  Manifestation 
stood  quietly  by  the  wall,  and  presently  began 
to  address  them.  What  wronderful  loving 
potency  vibrated  in  his  words,  his  thought, 
his  intention  we  do  not  know,  but  it  is  a  fact 
that  the  mass  of  insects  settled  gently  to  the 
ground,  remained  as  if  benumbed  for  awhile, 
and  not  one  flew  over  the  wall.  Then  they  be- 
gan to  eat  voraciously,  and  left  not  a  blade 
nor  a  leaf  of  green  anywhere  outside  of  the 
blooming  and  fragrant  verdure  of  the  Rizwan. 

There  is  a  tiny  shelter  in  the  garden  where 
Baha  Ullah  was  accustomed  to  retire  at  times 
when  he  desired  especial  privacy.  The  chair 
in  which  he  habitually  sat  is  preserved,  and 
visitors  adorn  it  with  flowers  in  memory  of  the 
Beloved  One  who  once  occupied  it. 

For  a  considerable  period  the  inhabitants  of 
Acca  were  not  interested  in  the  religious  prin- 
ciples of  the  famous  prisoners  domiciled  among 
them.  They  had  been  informed  by  the  au- 
thorities that  the  confined  saints  were  exceed- 
ingly wicked  persons,  that  they  had  committed 
murder  and  other  heinous  crimes,  and  had  only 
escaped  death  by  the  tolerance  of  the  Sultan. 
The  government  hoped  by  such  nefarious 

120 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

'methods  to  ensure  the  ill  treatment  and  cruel 
persecutions  of  the  unfortunate  victims  in  its 
power,  and  for  a  time  the  spell  worked.  But 
it  is  impossible  for  human  beings  to  come  in 
contact  with  veritable  saints  and  not  discover 
that  they  are  such,  and  so  it  happened  in  this 
case. 

One  family  was  converted  to  the  faith  of 
Baha  Ullah,  in  rather  remarkable  fashion, 
shortly  after  the  Blessed  Perfection  was  re- 
leased from  the  military  barracks.  The  grand- 
father of  the  household  had  been  an  unusually 
devout  and  studious  man,  much  given  to  poring 
over  the  holy  books  of  his  faith.  As  a  result 
of  long  pondering  he  had  decided  that  it  was 
full  time  for  the  Manifestation  of  God  to  ap- 
pear, whose  coming  was  presaged  as  he  be- 
lieved by  the  tradition  of  the  Imaum's  return. 
But  he  doubted  whether  he  himself  would  be 
privileged  to  see  him. 

He  spent  much  time  with  his  youngest 
grandson  who  was  then  a  lad  of  eight  or  ten 
years  old,  and  told  him  with  great  solemnity 
that  his  eyes  would  rest  upon  the  Manifesta- 
tion of  God,  and  that  he  must  not  miss  this 
rare  opportunity,  nor  fail  to  recognize  this 
divinely  gifted  personage  whom  he  would  be  so 
blessed  as  to  encounter.  Meanwhile  the  good 
old  man  passed  away,  the  youth  grew  to  young 

121 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

manhood,  the  family  of  Baha  Ullah  came  to 
Acca  under  its  cloud  of  criminal  accusation, 
and  naturally  the  Mohammedan  did  not  con- 
nect the  group  of  dangerous  heretics — so 
called — with  the  holy  one  of  his  grandfather's 
warning. 

One  night  he  dreamed  that  the  old  man  came 
to  him  and  told  him  the  Manifestation  of  God 
was  in  Acca,  and  he  must  seek  him.  The 
young  gentleman  was  interested,  and  recalled 
his  deceased  relative's  repeated  prophecy,  but 
he  did  not  attach  any  special  importance  to 
the  dream. 

Presently,  however,  it  was  repeated  with  in- 
creased vividness.  The  grandfather  said  to 
him: 

"You  think  this  is  only  a  dream,  but  I  have 
come  to  tell  you  the  truth,  and  you  must  be- 
lieve what  I  say,  and  obey  me !" 

The  youth  was  more  deeply  impressed  this 
time,  because  the  recurrence  of  the  dream,  with 
its  added  insistence,  was  significant.  Still  it 
did  not  occur  to  him  that  he  should  act  upon 
it.  Finally  he  dreamed  again,  this  time  with 
such  detail  that  he  could  not  resist  the  convic- 
tion of  his  grandfather's  actual  presence.  The 
old  gentleman  expressed  his  impatience  at  his 
grandson's  indifference,  reminded  him  of  the 
prophecy  he  had  made  before  his  death,  as- 

122 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

sured  him  the  Manifestation  of  God  was  none 
other  than  the  famous  prisoner  so  long  con- 
fined in  Acca  and  accused  of  impossible  deeds. 
He  described  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  com- 
manded the  young  man  to  go  there,  and  added : 

"They  might  not  admit  you,  but  I  will  give 
you  the  password.  When  you  go  to  the  door 
say  "Allah  o'  Abha,"  and  immediately  it  will 
be  opened  wide.  You  will  see  a  man  sitting 
at  a  table  reading.  He  is  the  Manifestation 
of  God." 

The  young  man  was  peculiarly  situated.  He 
did  not  dare  disobey  this  direct  mandate  of 
his  dream,  yet  he  felt  himself  a  fool  in  consent- 
ing to  its  requisition.  He  could  not  venture 
to  speak  of  it  to  any  one,  and  he  decided  it 
would  be  best  to  test  the  adventure.  He 
therefore  went  to  the  house  indicated,  which 
he  knew  was  the  house  of  Baha  Ullah,  the 
dreaded  heretic.  He  walked  up  the  steps  hesi- 
tatingly, and  knocked  with  a  beating  heart,  for 
he  had  little  faith  that  the  password  given 
him  was  valid,  and  he  had  every  reason  to  dis- 
trust the  people  within. 

The  door  was  opened  suspiciously,  and  he 
was  asked  his  business.  In  trembling  tones  he 
pronounced  the  words,  "Allah  o'  Abha!"  In- 
stantly the  door  was  thrown  wide  open,  he  was 

123 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

encircled  by  the  arms  of  his  questioner,  and 
within  the  apartment  he  saw  a  noble  looking 
man  seated  at  a  table,  with  his  eyes  upon  a 
book. 

He  had  uttered  the  customary  greeting  of 
the  Bahais,  "Allah  o'  Abha,"  which  translated 
from  the  Arabic  tongue  means  "God  the  Glori- 
ous." It  has  been  their  means  of  identifica- 
tion and  communication  as  was  the  sign  of  the 
fish  to  the  Christians  of  an  earlier  Day  of  God, 
day  of  persecution,  alas!  It  is  called  their 
Greatest  Name,  as  was  that  of  Christ  to  his 
followers,  that  of  Jehovah  to  the  Jews,  of  Om 
to  the  Hindus  of  an  ancient  period.  It,  of 
course,  expresses  that  intimate  consciousness 
of  God's  Glory  which  the  devotees  of  Baha 
Ullah  claim  as  the  added  knowledge  of  the 
Deity  in  this  new  Day. 

The  guest  so  strangely  admitted  to  the  home 
of  Baha  Ullah,  could  not  leave  it  until  he  had 
realized  the  truth  in  his  grandfather's  exhorta- 
tion. He  and  all  his  family  became  faithful 
believers  in  the  wonder  of  the  Blessed  Perfec- 
tion's presence  in  the  world,  and  have  formed 
a  devoted  nucleus  of  friends  in  the  prison  city. 

When  the  time  came  for  Baha  Ullah  to  pass 
away  he  warned  those  about  him  of  his  depart- 
ure, and  he  had  already  made  known  his  will 
in  the  Kitab  el  Ad,  or  Book  of  the  Covenant, 

124 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

where  he  designates  his  son  Abdul  Baha  as  his 
successor,  and  the  Center  of  the  Corenant,  the 
one  who  shall  stand  as  the  Interpreter  of  his 
mighty  Word  after  he  has  crossed  the  thresh- 
old. 

The  end  of  mortal  life  for  Baha  Ullah  was 
peaceful  as  the  passing  of  such  a  soul  must  be 
when  not  hastened  by  the  throes  of  martyrdom, 
and  after  a  brief  attack  of  fever  in  the  Spring 
of  1892  he  disappeared  from  earthly  view. 

The  following  are  some  portions  of  a  very 
remarkable  letter  sent  by  Baha  Ullah  to  a 
"Friend"  in  Persia  shortly  after  his  great  Illu- 
mination had  come  upon  him.  It  may  be  added 
that  the  followers  of  Baha  Ullah,  or  Bahais 
and  Babis  are  called  simply  "Friends"  in 
Persia.  This  communication,  however,  was 
written  to  a  personal  friend  of  the  Manifesta- 
tion, who  was  evidently  an  individual  of  un- 
usual enlightenment.  The  original  Persian, 
which  is  said  to  possess  particular  beauty,  has 
been  translated  by  Mirza  Ahmad  Sohrab.  The 
epistle  is  so  long  that  only  extracts  can  be 
quoted.  It  begins : 

"In  the  Name  of  God  the  Peerless!" 

"Glory  befits  the  Discoverer,  who,  through 
one  shower  of  the  ocean  of  his  generosity,  ex- 
panded the  firmament  of  existence,  begemmed 
it  with  the  stars  of  knowledge,  and  summoned 

125 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

the  people  to  the  most  high  court  of  percep- 
tion and  understanding! 

"This  shower,  which  is  the  first  Word  of  the 
Almighty,  is  sometimes  called  the  Water  of 
Life,  for  it  quickens  the  dead  souls  in  the  desert 
of  ignorance  with  the  Spring  of  Intelligence. 
Sometimes  it  is  called  the  first  Emanation  which 
appears  from  the  Sun  of  Wisdom,  and  when  it 
began  to  shine,  the  first  movement  became  mani- 
fest, and  known,  and  then  phenomena  stepped 
into  the  arena  of  existence;  and  these  appear- 
ances were  through  the  generosity  of  the  In- 
comparable, the  Wise  One.  He  is  the  Knower, 
the  Giver:  He  is  sanctified  and  Holy  above 
every  statement  and  attribute!  The  seen  and 
the  unseen  fail  to  attain  the  measure  of  His 
understanding.  The  world  of  being  and  what- 
ever has  issued  from  it  bears  witness  to  this 
Utterance. 

"Therefore  it  has  become  known  that  the 
First  Bestowal  of  the  Almighty  is  the  Word. 
The  receiver  and  acceptor  of  it  is  the  under- 
standing. 

"The  Word  is  the  first  instructor  in  the  uni- 
versity of  existence,  and  is  the  Primal  Emana- 
tion of  God.  Whatever  has  appeared  is 
through  the  reflection  of  its  Light,  and  what- 
ever is  manifested  is  the  appearance  of  its  Wis- 
dom. 

126 


THE   SHINING  PATHWAY 

"All  the  names  originate  in  His  Name,  and 
the  beginnings  and  endings  of  all  affairs  are 
in  His  Hand. 

"  .  .  .  .  The  pulse  of  the  world  is  in  the 
hand  of  the  Skilful  Physician.  He  diagnoses 
the  illness,  and  wisely  prescribes  the  remedy. 
Every  day  has  its  own  secret,  and  every  tongue 
a  melody.  The  illness  of  to-day  has  one  cure, 
and  that  of  to-morrow  another.  Look  ye  upon 
this  day,  and  consider  and  discuss  its  needs. 
One  sees  that  existence  is  afflicted  with  innum- 
erable ailments  compelling  it  to  lie  upon  the 
bed  of  suffering.  Men  who  are  intoxicated 
with  the  wine  of  self-contemplation  prevent  the 
Wise  Physician  from  reaching  the  patient. 
Thus  have  they  caused  themselves  and  the 
world  to  suffer.  They  know  not  the  ailment, 
nor  recognize  the  remedy.  They  take  the 
wrong  for  the  right,  the  crooked  for  the 
straight,  the  enemy  for  the  friend. 

" O  Friends,  when  the  Primal 

Word  appeared  in  these  latter  days,  a  num- 
ber of  the  heavenly  souls  heard  the  Melody  of 
the  Beloved  and  hastened  toward  it,  while 
others  finding  that  the  deeds  of  some  did  not 
correspond  with  their  words  were  prevented 
from  the  Splendors  of  the  Sun  of  Knowledge. 

" O  ye  sons  of  intelligence!     The 

127 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

thin  eye-lid  prevents  the  eye  from  seeing  the 
world  and  what  is  contained  therein.  Then 
think  of  the  result  when  the  curtain  of  greed 
covers  the  sight  of  the  heart.  Say,  O  ye  peo- 
ple! The  darkness  of  greed  and  envy  obscures 
the  light  of  the  soul,  as  the  cloud  prevents  the 
penetration  of  the  sun's  rays.  Should  one 
listen  with  the  ear  of  intelligence  to  this  Utter- 
ance he  shall  spread  the  wings  of  freedom,  and 
soar  with  great  joy  to  the  Heaven  of  under- 
standing. 

" O  people!     The  word  must  be 

demonstrated  by  the  deed,  for  the  righteous 
witness  of  the  word  is  action.  The  former 
without  the  latter  shall  not  allay  the  thirst  of 
the  needy,  nor  open  the  doors  of  sight  to  the 
blind. 

"The  Heavenly  Wise  One  proclaimeth:  A 
harsh  word  is  like  unto  a  sword,  but  gentle 
speech  is  like  unto  milk.  The  children  of  the 
world  attain  unto  knowledge  and  better  them- 
selves through  this.  The  Tongue  of  Wisdom 
says :  Whosoever  possesses  Me  not  has  noth- 
ing. Pass  by  whatever  exists  in  this  world,  and 
find  Me.  I  am  the  Sun  of  Perception,  and  the 
Ocean  of  Science.  I  revive  the  withered  ones, 
and  quicken  the  dead.  I  am  that  Light  which 
illumines  the  Path  of  Insight.  I  am  the  Falcon 
of  the  land  of  the  Almighty!  I  bear  healing 

128 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

in  my  wings,  and  teach  the  knowledge  of  soar- 
ing to  the  Heaven  of  Truth. 

"The  Peerless  Beloved  says:  The  Way  of 
Freedom  is  opened!  Hasten  ye!  The  Foun- 
tain of  Knowledge  is  gushing !  Drink  ye !  Say, 

0  Friends!      The    Tabernacle    of    Oneness    is 
raised !     Look  not   upon  each   other  with  the 
eye  of  strangeness !     Ye  are  all  the  fruits  of 
one  tree,  and  the  leaves  of  one  branch.     Truly, 

1  say:      Whatever  lessens   ignorance,   and  in- 
creases knowledge  that  has  been,  is,  and  shall 
be  accepted  by  the  Creator. 

"Say,  O  people !  Walk  ye  under  the  shade 
of  the  Tree  of  Righteousness ;  enter  ye  under 
the  protection  of  the  Tent  of  Unity.  Say,  O 
thou  possessor  of  Sight !  The  past  is  the  mir- 
ror of  the  future:  look  and  perceive.  Per- 
chance after  the  acquirement  of  knowledge  ye 
may  know  the  Friend,  and  attain  to  His  good 
Pleasure.  To-day  the  best  fruit  of  the  Tree  of 
Science  and  Knowledge  is  that  which  benefits 
mankind  and  improves  his  condition. 

"Say !  The  tongue  is  the  witness  of  my 
Faith,  do  not  pollute  it  with  untruthfulness. 
The  Spirit  is  the  treasury  of  my  Mystery,  do 
not  deliver  it  into  the  hand  of  greed.  It  is 
hoped  that  in  this  Dawn  the  universe  shall  be- 
come illumined  with  the  Sun  of  understanding 
and  knowledge,  so  that  we  may  attain  to  the 

129 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

good  pleasure  of  the  Beloved,  and  drink  from 
the  Ocean  of  Divine  Recognition. 

" O  Friend!     We  have  seen  the 

pure  ground,  and  cast  the  seed  of  knowledge. 
Now  it  depends  on  the  rays  of  the  Sun  whether 
it  burns  up  or  is  caused  to  grow.  Say,  to-day 
through  the  greatness  of  the  Peerless  Wise  One, 
the  Sun  of  Knowledge  has  appeared  from  be- 
hind the  covering  of  the  Spirit,  and  all  the 
birds  of  the  meadow  of  Oneness  are  intoxicated 
with  the  wine  of  Understanding,  and  are  com- 
memorating the  name  of  the  Beloved.  Happy 
is  the  one  who  finds  this  and  becomes  Im- 
mortal." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  PROPHECIES  IN  REGARD  TO  THE  GREAT  DAY. 

The  Mohammedan  prophecies  as  to  the  Ap- 
pearance of  the  Bab  have  already  been  men- 
tioned, but  it  will  surprise  many  Christian 
readers  to  know  that  these  forewarnings  are 
even  more  startling  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment than  in  the  Koran  and  the  traditions  of 
the  Imaums.  The  dates  of  this  great  arrival 
are  as  definitely  given  in  Isaiah,  in  Daniel, 
Ezekiel  and  the  Book  of  Revelations  as  in  the 

130 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Mohammedan  scriptures.  Christians  have  be- 
lieved that  these  prophecies  refer  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  world,  that  this  destruction 
shall  be  followed  by  the  horror  of  the  day  of 
judgment,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Won- 
derful thousand  of  years  of  peace,  called  the 
Mellenium.  But  the  interpretation  of  these 
promises  by  the  Bab  and  Baha  Ullah  is  more 
reasonable,  and  is  already  justified  by  fulfill- 
ment. 

It  may  be  that  the  reader  is  not  interested  in 
prophecy.  As  a  rule  the  Anglo-Saxon  and 
American  child  hears  too  much  of  it  in  youth, 
and  when  the  rational  life  begins  with  more  ma- 
ture years,  the  adult  individual  casts  the  entire 
question  aside  as  part  of  the  superstition  that 
must  be  outgrown. 

However,  as  we  return  to  the  wonderful 
poetic  trance  of  Isaiah,  the  direct  psychic  in- 
terpretations of  Daniel,  and  the  marvellous 
vision  in  the  Book  of  Revelations,  which  has 
never  been  comprehended  until  our  day,  we  are 
impressed  by  the  fact  that  all  of  these  sensi- 
tive seers,  as  well  as  nearly  all  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew  prophets  have  had  a  glimpse  of  a 
lovely  Play  Day  which  was  to  come  to  the 
world  some  time. 

Moreover,  when  we  see  what  is  evidently  the 
same  vision  in  the  words  of  Christ  to  his  dis- 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ciples  before  his  departure,  and  also  in  those 
of  Zoroaster,  who  came  and  left  his  golden  mes- 
sage in  the  world's  heart  so  many  years  before 
him,  the  question  may  assume  a  deeper  interest 
for  us,  especially  if  we  realize  that  Mohammed 
at  a  later  day,  was  clearly  possessed  of  the 
same  conviction  that  a  wonderful  Day  was  to 
dawn  for  mankind  when  the  divine  message 
would  be  so  powerfully  uttered,  so  fully  ex- 
plained that  men  would  not  only  listen  to  it, 
but  live  it. 

For  the  sad  fact  remains  to  stare  us  in  the 
face  that  up  to  the  present  period  the  world 
has  not  dreamed  of  living  according  to  the 
Word  of  the  divine  mentors  who  have  succes- 
sively honored  us  with  their  radiant  Presence, 
who  have  ravished  us  with  the  joy  of  their 
short  stay,  and  almost  invariably  shed  their 
blood  as  a  sacrifice  to  our  hardness  of  heart ! 

The  world  has  listened  merely,  but  it  has 
hardly  been  less  rapacious,  less  cruel,  less  pas- 
sionate in  the  presence  of  the  divine  Word 
spoken  successively  by  Abraham,  Moses, 
Brahm,  Zoroaster,  Buddha,  Christ  and  Mo- 
hammed. We  enshrine  the  memory  of  each  who 
has  brought  the  Light,  build  temples  to  his 
name,  and  then  again  go  roaring  on  after  the 
delusions  of  our  own  glory  as  if  the  Word  had 
never  been  spoken. 

132 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Nevertheless  the  few  who  attend  sufficiently 
to  bring  a  reflection  from  the  splendor  of  life 
into  their  own  existence,  we  enshrine  also  in 
lesser  temples,  or  in  niches  where  the  brilliance 
is  so  evident  that  it  might  easily  recall  us  from 
the  darkness  of  our  own  lives. 

We  never  forget  Florence  Nightingale,  for 
instance,  if  we  know  nothing  else  about  her,  we 
are  aware  that  she  gave  herself  gladly  for 
others.  We  con  over  the  lovely  life  of  Sir 
Thomas  Moore,  and  his  devotion  to  his  ideal, 
in  a  circle  where  the  ideal  was  singularly  de- 
ficient. We  drop  happy  tears  upon  the  chron- 
icle of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  and  sing  with  him 
his  joyous  song  through  Italian  byways.  We 
thrill  at  the  noble  endeavor  of  John  Ruskin, 
great  enough  to  sacrifice  his  inherited  wealth 
that  he  might  walk  independently  beside  his  un- 
endowed brother,  the  common  man!  We  love 
the  complete  unselfishness  of  Camille  Corot, 
who  refused  to  accumulate  wealth  because  it 
made  him  so  happy  to  share  it  with  others. 
We  rejoice  in  the  beautiful  comradeship  of 
Donatello,  to  whom  every  moment  of  life  was 
sweet  because  he  lived  in  the  world  of  ideas  cre- 
ated by  himself  and  his  companions  of  the 
young  Renaissance — and  kept  his  money  in  a 
basket  suspended  from  the  ceiling  from  which 
every  one  in  need  was  free  to  help  himself! 

133 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

As  we  read  such  records,  we  realize  that  some 
people  have  lived,  and  have  done  more  than 
listen  and  perhaps  dream!  Existence  has  been 
no  grey  monotonous  current  to  them.  They 
have  loved,  enjoyed,  created.  They  have  been 
so  penetrated  by  divine  ideals  that  the  physical 
side  of  life  has  been  always  secondary  to  them. 

Was  it  not  significant  that  when  Donatello 
first  saw  the  great  Christ  that  his  friend 
Brunellcschi  had  carved,  he  dropped  the  cor- 
ners of  his  sculptor's  apron,  in  which  he  was 
carrying  the  breakfast  materials  gathered  in 
the  market,  and  walked  away,  saying  to  his 
companions : 

"You  can  get  your  own  breakfast,  I  have 
had  enough!" 

Can  you  not  imagine  that  during  the  re- 
mainder of  that  morning  Donatello  was  fed  by 
celestial  food?  The  whole  creative  man  within 
him  was  roused  and  nourished  by  the  magnifi- 
cent work  of  his  friend,  and  the  impulse  of  his 
genius  hung  before  his  astonished  eyes  the  full 
production  of  his  later  life ! 

These  things  are  life,  not  the  piling  up  of 
millions,  the  selection  of  intricate  and  dazzling 
costumes,  the  serving  of  lunches  and  dinners, 
the  speeding  of  automobiles.  It  is  not  that 
each  one  of  us  is  a  genius,  but  each  one  of  us 
possesses  an  individuality  and  a  capacity  to  live 

134 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

through  that  love  and  endeavor  that  is  pene- 
trated by  the  thought  of  God,  and  each  in  his 
own  way  comes  at  that  manner  of  living  when 
he  listens  to  the  great  and  simple  message  that 
has  been  voiced  again  and  again  by  the  Mes- 
sengers of  God. 

An  artist  friend  said  recently: 

"Most  people  are  so  anxious  to  make  a  liv- 
ing that  they  forget  how  to  live,  but  I  have 
always  lived,  and  yet  I  have  made  a  living." 

Another  said,  "It  is  a  great  privilege  to  earn 
a  living  by  doing  the  thing  that  one  loves,  and 
I  would  rather  earn  a  meagre  living  in  that 
way  than  a  princely  one  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
ideal." 

It  was  this  feeling  that  prompted  in  Tolstoi 
the  impulse  to  sacrifice  his  entire  fortune  and 
live  the  simple  life  of  the  common  man.  Hav- 
ing the  responsibilities  of  a  large  family  whom 
he  had  reared  in  the  environment  of  wealth  and 
ease,  he  could  not  do  so,  but  he  would  unques- 
tionably have  found  happiness  in  the  sacrifice, 
for  the  eternal  life  opens  as  we  become  inde- 
pendent of  merely  physical  things. 

"I  must  find  immortality  before  death,  or  I 
may  experience  much  difficulty  in  attaining  it. 
Because  to  be  immortal  is  to  be  absorbed  in 
love,  and  in  the  endeavor  that  is  not  concerned 
in  merely  physical  things.  If  I  am  flooded  with 

135 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

great  ideas,  I  am  immortal,  and  death  has  dis- 
appeared." So  the  physician  absorbed  in  the 
life  of  his  patients,  in  the  processes  of  healing 
which  renew  life,  has  found  immortality.  The 
representative  of  the  people  seeking  unselfishly 
the  good  of  his  constituents,  has  found  it,  the 
mother  who  loves  and  considers  other  children 
as  well  as  her  own,  has  found  it.  The  agricul- 
turist deeply  engaged  in  the  best  processes  for 
the  development  of  his  land,  and  also  for  the 
well-being  of  man  and  beast  upon  it,  has  found 
it,  and  to  all  such  persons  mere  questions  of 
personal  comfort  and  aggrandizement  are  of 
slight  import.  They  have  learned  to  live  in 
the  larger  circle,  where  self  is  not  pre-eminent, 
and  it  is  only  in  that  circle  that  one  begins  to 
feel  the  splendor  of  life. 

This  splendor  is  eternal,  and  is  not  confined 
to  the  radius  of  our  little  planet,  it  is  electric, 
and  stings  into  vivid  consciousness  every  atom 
of  the  individual  being.  Each  truth  speaker 
who  has  lived  in  the  ages  of  the  past  has  felt 
this,  each  Messenger  of  God  has  sung  it,  and 
is  it  not  natural  to  suppose  that  looking  for- 
ward into  the  future  aeons  many  may  have 
glimpsed  suddenly  the  moment  of  fulfilment, 
the  instant  in  the  earth's  history  when  the  ideal 
began  at  last  to  enter  the  common  life,  the  mo- 
ment when  it  was  no  longer  centered  in  indi- 

136 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

viduals,  gifted  and  erratic,  but  softened  all 
hearts,  and  established  justice  in  our  social 
system  ? 

Ruskin  was  so  convinced  of  this  possibility 
that  for  years  he  refused  to  become  a  socialist 
because  he  insisted  that  human  beings  can  not 
be  reformed  by  a  system  of  laws.  The  separate 
man  must  begin  to  live  the  ideal  life  from  his 
conviction  of  its  excellence,  or  because  he  is  so 
filled  with  its  essence  that  he  can  not  help  it. 
Only  in  later  years  he  came  to  realize  that  per- 
haps those  who  first  perceive  the  ideal  relation- 
ships should  make  laws  to  control  the  individ- 
uals in  whom  the  true  vision  dawns  more  slowly. 

We  know  enough  now-a-days  of  the  tem- 
perament and  peculiarities  of  those  who  possess 
the  gift  of  clairvoyance  to  realize  that  they  see 
what  is  not  revealed  to  ordinary  eyes,  and  we 
can  imagine  if  we  have  not  witnessed  its  evi- 
dence that  this  power  is  enormously  enhanced 
from  a  very  different  source,  in  one  upon  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  rests.  So  it  would  not  be 
strange  if  these  True  Ones  in  all  ages  had 
looked  forward,  and  had  painted  for  us .  por- 
tions of  that  wonderful  Day  in  which  at  last 
the  power  of  God  is  so  fully  poured  out  upon 
the  world  that  all  men  must  begin  to  realize  it, 
and  live  according  to  its  law. 

137 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

We  find  our  own  old  Testament  rich  in  these 
pre-glimpses  of  what  seems  the  very  day  in 
which  we  are  living  now,  with  its  horrors,  its 
splendors,  and  its  marvellous  inspirations.  For 
instance  verses  3  and  4  of  the  second  chapter 
of  the  tiny  book  of  Nahum,  paint  as  vivid  a 
picture  of  the  present  day  automobile  as  could 
easily  be  granted  to  a  truth  seer  living  seven 
hundred  years  before  Christ. 

" the  chariots  shall  be  with  flaming 

torches  in  the  day  of  his  preparation,  and  the 
fir  trees  shall  be  terribly  shaken. 

"The  chariots  shall  rage  in  the  streets,  they 
shall  jostle  one  against  another  in  the  broad 
ways,  they  shall  seem  like  torches,  they  shall 
run  like  the  lightnings." 

Many  of  these  old  prophetic  writers  in  an- 
cient Hebrew  are  not  great  message  givers,  but 
they  were  holy  men  devoted  to  the  service  of 
their  God,  and  possessed  by  the  psychic  vision 
so  that  their  images  are  sometimes  broken  and 
distorted.  For  instance  the  prophet  is  carried 
away  upon  the  mighty  current  of  the  distant 
future,  and  paints  a  clear  picture  of  what  re- 
sults from  the  concurrence  of  celestial  powers, 
and  then  without  warning  there  comes  a  break 
in  the  flow  of  inspiration.  Suddenly  the  seer  is 
talking  of  mere  tribal  matters,  and  apparently 
is  not  conscious  that  both  scene  and  time  of  his 

138 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

picture  have  undergone  a  momentous  trans- 
formation. 

Any  one  who  has  become  interested  in  the 
psychologic  analysis  of  those  possessing  the 
psychic  gift  can  understand  this  irregularity, 
this  flaw  in  the  plate,  and  the  separate  portions 
of  the  picture  remain  separately  interesting  and 
true. 

So  it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference,  nor  one 
for  gentle  scoffing,  when  we  discover  that  the 
same  date  for  the  appearance  of  the  Mahdi 
which  the  Mohammedan  tradition  preserved  ap- 
pears repeatedly  in  our  own  scriptures.  That 
date  is  the  year  1260,  it  will  be  remembered, 
which  corresponds  with  the  year  1844*  of  our 
era,  the  date  when  the  Bab  first  began  to 
preach,  and  when  Abdul  Baha  was  born. 

In  the  7th  verse  of  the  remarkable  12th  chap- 
ter of  Daniel,  we  have  the  date  clearly  given. 
Daniel  asks  how  long  shall  it  be  until  the  end 
of  these  wonders,  and  the  man  clothed  in  linen 
replies:  a  time,  time,  and  a  half.  Now  biblical 
criticism  tells  us  that  a  "time"  is  360  years, 
"times"  is  always  recognized  as  two  times,  or 
720  years,  and  adding  the  half  time  of  180,  we 
have  again  this  persistent  number  of  1260 
years. 

Biblical  criticism  recognizes  that  in  this 
chapter  Daniel  is  dealing  with  the  Mohamme- 

139 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

dan  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  because  it  was  at 
that  time,  and  because  of  the  conquest  that  the 
Jewish  daily  sacrifice  in  the  temple  was  ren- 
dered impossible,  and  the  "Abomination  of  deso- 
lation" was  begun  which  shall  end  in  this  won- 
derful year  of  184*4,  or  1260.  Daniel  is  dealing 
with  the  dispensation  of  Mohammed,  and  natur- 
ally gives  the  date  which  includes  it,  for  neces- 
sarily the  proclamation  of  the  Bab  that  a  new 
Manifestation  of  God  had  risen,  brings  to  a 
close  the  preceding  one. 

Later  in  the  chapter  we  find  the  verse  to 
which  Christ  refers  when  his  disciples  asked  him 
for  the  "time  of  the  end,"  or  the  great  day  of 
his  "second  coming."  In  the  24th  chapter  of 
Matthew  he  points  them  to  the  llth  verse  of  the 
same  wonderful  12th  chapter  of  Daniel: 

"And  from  the  time  that  the  daily  sacrifice 
shall  be  taken  away  and  the  abomination  that 
makcth  desolate  set  up,  there  shall  be  a  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  ninety  days." 

This  gives  us  the  date  of  1863,  the  year  when 
Bah.'i  Ullah  announced  his  mission  to  the  world, 
in  fulfillment  of  the  Bab's  prophecy,  but  in  this 
instance  we  compute  not  according  to  the  con- 
ventional chronology  of  Islam  from  the  hegira, 
but  from  the  moment  ten  years  before  that  day, 
when  Mohammed  first  told  his  followers  of  his 
illumination  and  his  mission.  It  is  significant 

140 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

that  Christ  should  have  referred  to  this  verse, 
and  that  its  computation  should  contain  this 
additional  ten  }^ears  which  is  not  recognized  in 
the  date  of  the  Hcgira.  The  latter  marks  the 
moment  of  Mohammed's  outward  recognition, 
the  former  that  of  his  own  inward  light.  The 
announcement  of  Baha  Ullah  in  1863  is  also 
one  of  inward  light,  because  the  world  has  not 
3rct  accepted  and  established  his  chronology. 

In  the  12th  chapter  of  Revelations  we  find 
the  same  date  of  1260  repeated  in  a  fashion 
which  our  biblical  critics  have  never  under- 
stood, because  they  have  not  regarded  Moham- 
med as  a  prophet  of  God,  and  have  not  ex- 
pected to  find  his  figure  in  the  vision  of  St. 
John.  This  chapter  has  puzzled  many  critics, 
and  has  received  numerous  interpretations.  The 
Christian  Scientists  have  believed  that  it  refers 
to  Mrs.  Eddy  and  her  beautiful  teaching,  but 
the  explanation  of  it  offered  by  the  Bab  is  the 
only  satisfactory  one. 

If  John  the  seer  looked  into  the  future,  and 
the  clearing  of  the  spiritual  vision  had  removed 
the  veils  from  his  eyes,  he  must  surely  have  per- 
ceived the  great  interruptions  and  variations 
which  the  Christian  dispensation  would  experi- 
ence. As  he  had  been  close  to  its  lovely  Light, 
he  would  be  especially  sensitive  to  all  connected 

141 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

with  its  long  span.  So  the  upheaval  of  Islam, 
whether  we  regard  Mohammed  as  a  true 
prophet  or  not  would  necessarily  have  attracted 
his  spiritual  gaze. 

The  woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  with  the 
moon  under  her  feet,  and  a  crown  of  twelve 
stars  undoubtedly  refers  to  the  movement  of 
Mohammed.  It  has  been  the  great  dominating 
force  in  the  kingdom  of  Persia,  whose  symbol 
is  the  sun,  and  in  Turkey,  whose  symbol  is  the 
moon,  and  its  twelve  Imaums  are  certainly 
worthy  of  the  denomination  of  stars  in  a  crown. 
In  the  progress  of  the  chapter  the  irruption 
and  dynasty  of  the  Ommyad  Turks  are  plainly 
indicated,  as  well  as  the  long  struggle  between 
the  followers  of  Christ  and  those  of  Mohammed. 
The  number  of  1260  years  is  given  as  the  length 
of  time  the  woman  is  preserved,  and  this  is 
again  a  reference  to  the  dispensation  of  Mo- 
hammed from  the  Hegira  to  the  proclamation 
of  the  Bab  in  1260  of  the  Islamic  chronology 
and  1844  of  our  own. 

In  the  llth  chapter  of  Revelations  the  num- 
ber of  1260  is  repeated  in  such  fashion  that  its 
reference  to  the  Mohammedan  domination  of 
the  Holy  Land  is  unquestionable.  The  first  and 
second  verses  are  as  follows : 

"And  there  was  given  me  a  reed  like  unto  a 
rod,  and  the  angel  stood,  saying,  'rise  and 

142 


THE  SHINING  PATHWAY 

measure  the  temple  of  God,  and  the  altar,  and 
them  that  worship  therein.' 

"  'But  the  court  which  is  without  the  temple 
leave  out,  and  measure  it  not,  for  it  is  given 
unto  the  gentiles,  and  the  Holy  City  shall  they 
tread  under  foot  forty  and  two  months.' ' 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  all  the  mys- 
tical and  prophetic  numbering  of  the  Bible  and 
other  holy  books,  a  day  stands  for  a  year,  and 
forty  two  months  of  thirty  days  each  produces 
once  more  this  number  of  1260.  When  we  have 
once  begun  to  connect  it  with  the  dispensation 
of  Islam  we  feel  certain  that  John  had  in  mind 
in  these  verses  those  long  years  in  which  the 
Sultans  have  ruled  the  outer  courts  of  Jerusa- 
lem. They  have  always  respected  the  services 
in  the  Christian  temples  and  have  carefully 
compelled  peace  between  the  warring  priests  of 
the  Greek  and  Catholic  sects,  and  their  spir- 
itual d-omination  ended  with  the  proclamation  of 
the  Bab,  which  sounded  the  note  of  a  new  day. 

During  these  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years 
from  the  Hegira  of  Mohammed  until  the  great 
message  of  the  Bab  there  was  no  fresh  claim 
of  illumination.  They  represent  the  unbroken 
rule  of  a  prophet  whose  followers  were  hostile 
to  the  immense  body  of  believers  in  Christ,  and 
who  were  conquerors  of  the  Jews  as  well,  it 
seems  natural  therefore  that  such  a  block  of 

143 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

time  should  have  touched  the  imagination  of 
seers  in  different  ages,  beginning  with  the  illum- 
ination which  introduced  it  to  the  world,  and 
ending  likewise  with  the  illumination  which 
quenched  it  as  a  dominating  objective  force. 

Another  point  about  the  prophecies  of  the 
Bible  is  of  special  interest  with  regard  to  the 
Hebrew  race,  and  the  great  movement  of  Chris- 
tianity. There  are  two  distinct  lines  of 
prophecy  in  the  old  Testament,  one  referring 
to  the  overthrow  and  scattering  of  the  Jews, 
and  their  refusal  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  God, 
and  many  others  which  recount  in  organ  tones 
of  glorious  rejoicing  the  victory  of  the  op- 
pressed, the  triumph  of  the  humiliated  ones,  and 
the  glorification  of  God  in  the  Holy  places. 

Now  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Christ  were  look- 
ing for  the  Messiah  as  the  Mohammedan  stud- 
ents were  expecting  the  return  of  the  Imaum 
in  the  Day  of  the  Bab.  But  they  did  not  truly 
understand  their  own  scriptures.  For  instance, 
the  53d  chapter  of  Isaiah  should  have  given 
them  pause.  It  so  clearly  records  the  suffer- 
ing, persecution  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ  that 
it  seems  as  if  it  must  have  been  intercalated 
after  the  tragic  story  of  his  illumination  anc! 
agony  had  been  completed.  Yet  we  know  it  is 
an  integral  portion  of  the  ancient  book  of 
Isaiah. 

144 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Surely  if  the  Jewish  High  Priests  had  known 
this  chapter  they  would  have  sat  reverently  at 
the  feet  of  the  Saviour,  recognizing  him  as  the 
first  who  came  in  fulfillment  of  the  great  proph- 
ecy. But  their  minds  were  occupied  only  with 
visions  of  triumph,  with  the  advent  of  a  king 
crowned  in  his  glory,  for  so  they  interpreted 
the  wonderful  chapters  in  Ezekiel,  Isaiah  and 
the  other  old  Hebrew  prophets,  who  fall  into 
an  ecstasy  when  picturing  this  marvellous  Play 
Day  of  man  which  is  to  come,  and  on  the  verge 
of  which  we  seem  to  stand  even  now. 

In  this  day  the  Jews  shall  be  restored  to  their 
former  glory,  and  the  "Abomination  of  desola- 
tion" shall  end.  As  has  been  said  it  is  illumin- 
ating that  Christ  should  have  referred  to  the 
verse  in  Daniel  marking  the  beginning  and  end 
of  this  suffering.  It  is  evident  that  he  saw 
perfectly  his  own  place  in  the  great  scheme, 
and  knew  that  the  story  would  complete  itself 
only  when  the  glory  descended  the  second  time, 
and  more  fully. 

The  Jews  have  ignored  the  two  distinct  lines 
of  prophecy,  and  the  Christians  as  well.  The 
Jews  declared  that  Christ  did  not  fulfill  all  the 
ancient  predictions,  and  truly  he  did  not,  for 
it  was  only  his  function  to  carry  out  what  be- 
longed to  himself.  The  Jews  therefore  still  ex- 
pect the  Messiah,  whose  coming  will  complete 

145 


THE  SHINING  PATHWAY 

the  traditional  imageries  of  their  race.  They 
know  that  the  time  is  here,  and  they  recognize 
its  fulfillment  in  the  advent  of  the  Bab  and 
Baha  Ullah  with  delightful  quickness. 

Meanwhile  the  Christian  critics  have  applied 
both  lines  of  prophecy  to  Christ,  assuming,  ac- 
cording to  the  theology  they  have  created,  that 
he  is  the  only  Saviour,  misunderstanding  his 
own  frank  statement  of  his  return,  and  of  its 
meaning.  The  theologians  forget  always  that 
Jesus  was  the  man,  that  Christ  was  the  Glory, 
the  Breath  of  God  resting  upon  him,  and  that 
when  he  spoke  of  return  it  was  the  Glory  that 
promised  to  visit  mankind  again.  No  one  can 
ponder  the  ancient  Hebrew  scriptures  with  the 
clue  of  the  two  distinct  currents  referring  to 
events  evidently  wide  apart,  without  feeling 
that  if  there  was  an  actual  vision  of  the  future 
in  these  strange  picturings,  we  are  in  the  mo- 
ment of  the  second  great  dispensation  which 
brings  the  fulfillment  of  the  first. 

One  needs  only  to  compare  the  53d  chapter 
of  Isaiah  with  the  65th  to  feel  certain  that  the 
latter  reveals  to  us  the  consequences  of  the 
events  foretold  in  the  former.  The  first  verses 
of  the  65th  chapter  paint  the  condition  of  the 
Jews  after  they  refused  to  accept  their  prophet. 
Then  in  the  8th  verse  begins  the  prophecy  of 
the  succeeding  Manifestation  which  shall  cre- 

146 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ate  "a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,"  but  the 
promise  is  that  the  scattered  and  sorrowing 
people  shall  rejoice  in  this  second  kingdom, 
though  it  is  not  of  their  making.  The  allusion 
to  the  "valley  of  Achor"  is  only  one  of  a  num- 
ber among  the  old  Testament  prophesies  which 
paint  very  clearly  this  positive  location  where 
the  Manifestation  was  confined  for  so  many 
years,  and  where  Abdul  Baha  in  his  turn  has 
received  all  the  nations  of  the  world.  Achor  is 
necessarily  Acre  or  Acca,  the  ancient  city  at 
the  foot  of  Mt.  Carmel,  which  has  a  long  his- 
tory among  the  generations  of  men. 

Thousands  of  the  Jews  have  recognized  the 
relation  of  the  two  lines  of  foretelling  in  their 
sacred  writings,  and  in  knowing  Baha  Ullah  as 
the  Messiah  promised  so  gloriously,  they  see  im- 
mediately the  mistake  their  people  made  in 
denying  Christ,  and  hasten  to  give  their  adher- 
ence to  him  also,  and  thus  they  realize  at  last 
the  joy  of  comprehending  the  great  mission  of 
Christ  to  the  world. 

Another  point  of  unquestionable  import  in 
regard  to  these  strange  prophecies  of  the  He- 
brew seers  is  the  place  given  to  the  Branch  in 
the  dawning  of  the  Day  of  Peace,  of  which 
Isaiah  always  sings  the  song. 

For  instance  in  Zechariah  6:12,  the  verse 
runs: 

147 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

" Behold  the  man  whose  name  is  the 

Branch,  and  he  shall  grow  up  out  of  his  place, 
and  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord." 

Again  in  Isaiah  4:2,  "In  that  day  shall  the 
Branch  of  the  Lord  be  beautiful,  and  glorious, 
and  the  fruit  of  the  earth  shall  be  excellent  and 
comely,  for  them  that  are  escaped  out  of 
Israel." 

These  citations  might  be  multiplied,  but  they 
are  all  of  the  same  character,  and  it  is  unneces- 
sary. They  have  been  referred  to  Christ  by 
biblical  critics  but  this  reference  has  never 
seemed  correct.  Christ  was  not  called  "the 
Branch"  and  he  did  not  inaugurate  a  day  of 
peace.  The  passages  of  the  Old  Testament 
where  the  Branch  is  alluded  to  always  describe 
him  as  presiding  in  that  wonderful  Play  Day 
when  wars  have  ceased,  when  men  have  learned 
the  lesson  of  love  and  mutual  service,  and  when 
joy  reigns  because  selfishness  has  died  out  of  the 
world's  heart.  The  8th  chapter  of  Zechariah 
is  one  of  those  which  speaks  very  definitely  of 
the  wonders  of  this  day  as  fulfilling  Jewish 
prophecy  so  clearly  that  every  one  will  recog- 
nize it. 

Christ  of  course  died  in  shameful  obscurity, 
and  his  beautiful  teaching  has  lived  in  our  con- 
sciousness as  an  ideal  which  some  time  we  must 
carry  out.  Baha  Ullah  said,  "I  am  the  Real- 

148 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

izer!"  and  he  went  on  to  explain  that  in  spite 
of  the  heavenly  monition  which  Christ  gave,  men 
could  not  live  according  to  its  law  until  another 
Manifestation  of  God  had  come  and  brought 
the  power  to  do  so. 

The  word  "realization"  seems  constantly  on 
the  lips  of  the  world  to-day,  applied  in  every 
direction,  and  will  presently  bid  our  armaments 
exchange  their  Dreadnoughts  for  air  ships,  and 
command  the  melting  of  Krupp  guns  into 
statues  for  the  peace  makers.  Even  in  the 
United  States  we  are  growing  weary  of  the  rich 
man  and  are  comprehending  that  laws  prevent- 
ing the  excessive  accumulation  of  wealth  are 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  common- 
wealth. The  rapidly  increasing  feeling  of 
brotherhood  everywhere  will  soon  render  war 
impossible,  and  the  ruler  of  aggressive  spirit 
can  no  longer  compel  the  courage  and  faith  of 
the  common  man. 

Baha  Ullah  spoke  of  himself  always  as  the 
"Tree  of  Life."  He  gave  this  explanation  of 
the  symbol  of  the  tree  of  life  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden.  The  Manifestation  of  God  is  the  Tree 
of  Life,  he  declared,  for  it  is  he  whose  mission 
it  is  to  give  the  bread  of  life  to  mankind,  and 
explain  the  wonder  of  the  world's  creation,  and 
man's  relation  to  God.  When  he  selected  his 
oldest  son  as  his  interpreter,  he  called  him  the 

149 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

greatest  Branch  from  the  Tree  of  Life,  using 
the  term  unquestionably  in  its  spiritual  signifi- 
cance, and  always  spoke  of  him  as  "the 
Branch." 

The  Day  of  God  when  the  prophet  voices  his 
message  is  always  illumined  by  three  figures,  the 
precursor,  or  herald,  the  Messenger,  or  Mani- 
festation, and  the  interpreter,  or  we  might  say, 
the  Illuminator,  the  Illumination,  and  the  Illum- 
inated One. 

Thus  John  the  Baptist  foretold  the  coming 
of  Christ,  Christ  spoke  the  Message,  and  Peter 
was  his  interpreter.  In  the  day  of  Moses  the 
coming  of  the  Liberator  was  foretold  by  various 
wise  men.  Moses  led  the  people  out  of  bondage, 
and  Joshua  completed  their  emancipation.  Mo- 
hammed's appearance  was  announced  succes- 
sively by  four  wise  men.  Rouz-bih,  surnamed 
Salman,  had  the  honor  of  serving  them.  When 
death  came  to  one  he  sent  Rouz-bih  to  the 
other,  until  the  turn  of  the  fourth  arrived. 
When  death  claimed  this  one,  he  said  to  the  at- 
tendant : 

"Oh  Rouz-bih,  after  preparing  me  for  the 
tomb,  and  burying  me,  go  thou  to  Hijaz  where 
the  Mohammedic  Sun  will  rise.  To  thee  be  glad 
tidings  of  the  meeting  of  his  Holiness !" 

Mohammed  delivered  the  law,  and  appointed 
Ali  to  have  charge  of  it  after  his  passing.  In 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

our  day  the  Bab  cried  aloud  the  reappearance 
of  the  Word  in  Baha  Ullah,  and  spoke  with  such 
power  that  no  precursor  ever  so  prepared  the 
way  for  the  luminous  Advent.  Baha  Ullah  gave 
the  message  with  a  fullness  and  glory  that  has 
never  been  previously  attained.  He  appointed 
Abdul  Baha  "the  Branch"  as  his  interpreter, 
and  the  one  who  should  bring  peace  to  the 
world. 

There  is  a  very  significant  point  in  Christ's 
warning  to  his  disciples  of  that  wonderful  time 
when  the  spirit  should  descend  again  and  bring 
the  fulfillment  of  the  law  which  the  gentle 
teacher  had  so  lovingly  propounded  He  said, 
in  that  day  many  will  come  saying,  "I  am 
Christ,"  but  do  not  listen  to  them,  beware  of 
them  all,  for  I  am  not  in  them! 

One  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the  last  half 
century  has  been  the  number  of  cults  which  have 
risen  about  a  figure  who  has  sincerely  believed 
himself  to  be  the  re-incarnated  Christ,  and  our 
insane  asylums  are  filled  with  the  unfortunate 
lunatics  who  cherish  the  same  delusion.  These 
characters  have  appeared  everywhere,  and  ap- 
parently have  spoken  every  language. 

But  the  great  Revelator  of  this  day  has  never 
made  this  claim.  On  the  contrary  the  Bab, 
Baha  Ullah,  and  Abdul  Baha  explain  for  the 
first  time  in  fulness  what  Christ  was,  what  the 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

manifestation  of  God  always  must  be,  what  con- 
stitutes the  Day  of  God,  and  why  the  Day  must 
always  dawn  again  and  again,  because  man's 
heart  is  human,  and  the  divine  lesson  grows 
cold  within  it. 

No  one  can  read  the  words  of  Christ  to  his 
disciples,  and  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  chapters 
of  John  without  realizing  that  the  illumination 
upon  Jesus  spoke  of  the  time  when  it  should  de- 
scend again  to  revive  the  world  through  the  lips 
of  another  divine  one.  Christ  said  as  he  sat  at 
the  table  with  his  consecrated  ones : 

"I  shall  not  break  bread  again  until  I  eat  it 
at  my  Father's  table,"  and  now  we  know  that 
his  prophetic  vision  painted  before  him  the  mar- 
vellous Day  when  the  two  illuminated  ones 
should  descend  to  verify  Christ's  own  loving 
symbol  of  the  Sonship  of  man,  and  the  Father- 
hood of  God. 

He  says  again,  "Many  things  I  would  say 
unto  you,  but  ye  can  not  bear  them,  but  he  that 
comes  after  me,  he  will  say  them."  No  one 
knew  better  than  Christ  how  much  he  left  un- 
said in  his  short,  unwritten,  oral  message,  yet 
he  gave  the  people  all  they  could  comprehend, 
and  the  fruit  of  his  message,  lying  in  their 
hearts  has  prepared  them  for  much  more.  So 
to-day  the  prophets  of  the  fulfillment  in  their 
imprisonment  have  written  wonderful  volumes 

152 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

of  explanation  and  interpretation  upon  that 
great  law  of  God  his  Messengers  have  revealed 
and  we  must  apply.  Baha  Ullah  says  in  the 
Iglian,  if  the  wisdom  of  God  made  known  by  his 
prophets  were  estimated  according  to  the  letters 
in  the  alphabet  all  that  has  been  previously  re- 
vealed would  not  represent  more  than  the  first 
two  letters,  while  the  present  day  in  its  full- 
ness has  given  all  of  the  remainder! 

In  the  Kitab-el  Akdas  Baha  Ullah  has  laid 
down  the  outline  on  which  our  future  social  de- 
mocracy shall  be  reared.  They  are  the  lines 
of  advancement  upon  which  the  world  is  work- 
ing everywhere  now.  In  the  Ighan,  as  has  been 
previously  said,  he  explains  that  wonder  of  the 
successive  Manifestations  of  God  which  have 
enlightened  the  world.  In  the  Hidden  Words 
he  speaks  in  inspired  paragraphs  uttered  by  the 
spirit  which  possessed  him.  In  the  Seven  Val- 
leys which,  like  the  Igham,  was  written  in  one 
night  in  answer  to  a  question  propounded  to 
him,  he  tells  how  the  soul  finds  God,  through 
what  different  states  man  passes  in  his  search 
for  the  divine  elixir.  But  these  words  are  but 
a  bald  statement  of  this  exquisite  little  book 
with  its  heavenly  contents. 

Baha  Ullah  has  written  many  volumes,  of 
which  comparatively  few  have  yet  been  trans- 
lated. Those  which  have  already  reached  the 

153 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

western  world  are  astonishing  not  only  in  their 
literary  beauty,  but  in  the  power  they  possess 
to  rouse  the  soul  and  fill  the  student  with  power 
to  live.  They  are  like  a  reincarnation  and  am- 
plification of  the  words  of  Christ  and  Moham- 
med, and  of  course  that  is  exactly  what  they 
are.  Besides  these  numerous  volumes  of  Baha 
Ullah  we  have  the  productions  from  the  inspired 
pen  of  the  Bab,  and  the  remarkable  letters  or 
"tablets"  of  Abdul  Baha,  which  already  would 
fill  many  pages  of  print,  and  the  volume  Some 
Answered  Questions,  which  was  written  by  Miss 
Barney  after  a  year's  residence  in  Acca,  during 
which  time  she  asked  Abdul  Baha  in  regard  to 
those  spiritual  points  which  had  troubled  the 
minds  of  western  believers.  The  book  is  full  of 
light,  and  may  be  only  one  of  many  we  may  have 
from  the  pen  of  Abdul  Balm. 

Christ  alluded  to  the  future  Manifestation 
under  different  names.  He  called  him  the  Com- 
forter, and  the  Christian  critics  have  inter- 
preted this  as  indicating  the  breathing  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  the  hearts  of  men,  which 
surely  is  a  beautiful  idea.  But  Christ  speaks 
of  the  Comforter  definitely  as  an  individual.  He 
says: 

"But  when  the  Comforter  shall  come,  whom 
I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  he  shall  testify  of  me." 

154 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

This  has  been  particularly  illustrated  in 
Baha  Ullah  and  Abdul  Baha,  who  though  born 
under  the  Dispensation  of  Mohammed  have  so 
testified  of  Christ  that  they  have  won  his  rec- 
ognition from  the  Mohammedan  and  Jewish 
worlds  which  previously  either  ignored  him  en- 
tirely, or  refused  to  place  him  in  the  lofty  sta- 
tion which  was  his. 

Again  Christ  mentions  the  coming  of  one  aa 
the  "Prince  of  this  World."  In  the  30th  verse 
of  the  14th  chapter  of  John,  he  says : 

"Hereafter  I  will  not  talk  much  with  you: 
for  the  Prince  of  this  world  cometh  and  hath 
nothing  in  me." 

In  this  passage  Abdul  Baha  says  Christ's  ref- 
erence is  distinctly  to  Baha  Ullah,  who  came  as 
a  Manifestation  of  God,  with  no  reflection  of 
the  personality  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  is  why 
Christ  says  "he  has  nothing  in  me."  It  is  a 
new  personality  upon  whom  the  Divine  Glory 
rests. 

In  the  llth  verse  of  the  12th  chapter  of 
Matthew  in  response  to  his  disciples'  inquiries, 
he  says : 

" Elias  truly  shall  first  come,  and 

restore  all  things." 

He  adds  that  Elias  is  already  come  "and  they 
knew  him  not,"  but  it  is  evident  that  in  his  first 
remark  he  is  not  thinking  of  John,  but  of  the 

155 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

Bab,  that  second  Elias,  for  he  truly  did  "re- 
store all  things,"  winning  an  acceptance,  and 
breaking  the  power  of  tradition  as  John  the 
Baptist  had  not  done.  The  Bab  opened  the 
minds  of  his  generation  to  the  truth  so  that  the 
recognition  of  Baha  Ullah  was  a  comparative!}^ 
easy  matter  to  thousands. 

In  the  27th  verse  of  the  16th  chapter  of  Mat- 
thew Christ  says: 

"For  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  the  Glory 
of  his  Father,  with  his  angels,  and  then  he  shall 
reward  every  man  according  to  his  work." 

Does  this  not  seem  again  like  a  curiously  def- 
inite allusion  to  the  wonderful  Manifestation  of 
to-day,  when  after  "Elias"  or  the  Bab  has  made 
his  proclamation  the  Glory  of  God  has  rested 
upon  these  two  illuminated  ones  who  were  lit- 
erally father  and  son?  The  Son  of  man  saw  all 
things,  the  veils  had  disappeared  from  before 
his  eyes,  and  clear  outlines  of  the  great  events 
in  distant  ages  were  revealed  to  him. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   INSPIRING    PRESENCE    OF   ABDUL   BAHA. 

To  many  persons  in  the  world  the  name  of 
Abdul  Baha  or  Abbas  Effendi  is  like  a  delight- 

156 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

ful  volume  open  for  perusal.  The  number  of 
believers  in  his  faith  is  very  great  and  includes 
devotees  from  all  the  religions  of  the  world,  who 
in  recognizing  this  wonderful  Revelation  of 
to-day  have  for  the  first  time  comprehended 
fully  the  meaning  of  the  cult  in  which  they  were 
born  and  bred.  So  in  the  home  of  Abdul  Baha 
one  meets  Mohammedan  and  Braham,  Buddhist 
and  Zoroastrian,  Shintoist,  Christian  and  Jew, 
Theosophist  and  Christian  Scientist,  all  rejoic- 
ing in  one  another,  and  in  the  fresh  and  living 
understanding  of  questions  human  and  divine 
which  has  come  to  them  through  the  illumina- 
tion of  their  union  in  the  great  Revelation 
that  unites  all  worshippers  and  seekers  for 
Truth. 

In  the  Oriental  countries  and  Russia  there 
are  at  least  twelve  million  who  acclaim  Abdul 
Baha  as  their  spiritual  centre,  and  in  the  west- 
ern world  there  are  growing  organizations  of  the 
movement  in  most  of  the  principal  cities.  In 
Berlin,  Paris,  London,  New  York,  Chicago, 
Kansas  City,  Denver,  Boston,  San  Francisco, 
Los  Angeles  one  finds  vigorous  centres  of  agita- 
tion. Washington,  D.  C.,  has  a  large  Assembly, 
and  in  New  York,  Chicago,  and  Washington 
there  are  Bahai  publishing  houses,  devoted  to 
the  translation  and  publication  of  the  writings 
of  the  Revelators,  and  of  everything  connected 

157 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

with  the  propagation  of  the  cult.  The  litera- 
ture is  issued  in  cheap  though  always  attractive 
form,  and  sold  at  a  cost  which  merely  covers 
the  expense  of  paper  and  printing,  with  the 
idea  of  bringing  it  within  the  reach  of  the 
thinnest  pocketbook.  No  commercial  feeling 
has  touched  the  movement  as  yet,  all  its  teach- 
ings are  given  with  absolute  freedom,  there  are 
no  lessons  to  be  paid  for,  and  no  college  of 
teachers  can  demand  a  high  price  for  services 
rendered. 

Many  travellers  have  visited  Ace  a,  and  have 
been  entertained  in  the  delightfully  simple 
household  of  Abdul  Baha,  but  the  record  is  yet 
to  be  made  of  one  who  has  paid  his  board  while 
there,  or  left  a  sum  of  money  in  the  hand  of  his 
host  or  the  "butler"  at  his  departure.  Yet  each 
carries  away  with  him  a  gift  of  inspiration,  an 
impetus  toward  nobler  living  which  it  seems  im- 
possible to  duplicate  elsewhere  in  the  visible 
world. 

Abdul  Baha  is  a  man  of  medium  height  and 
slender  figure,  with  an  independent  carriage, 
which  gives  an  impression  of  greater  stature 
than  he  actually  possesses.  He  has  a  large  and 
fine  head,  his  brow  is  broad  and  high,  his  eyes 
wide  apart,  and  of  unusual  size.  They  are  un- 
usual in  other  respects  also,  for  they  have  a 
white  line  around  the  iris,  from  which  the  light 

158 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

seems  to  pour  forth  in  his  moments  of  excite- 
ment and  happiness,  rendering  his  face  fairly 
luminous.  The  color  of  the  eyes  alters  in  sin- 
gular fashion,  being  sometimes  brown,  again 
blue  or  gray,  but  always  beautiful.  The  nose  is 
aquiline,  strong  and  intellectual,  the  mouth  of 
good  size,  but  delicate  and  exceedingly  mobile, 
the  chin  oval,  but  full  of  power. 

The  countenance  is  that  of  an  inspired  ideal- 
ist, but  one  who  can  compass  also  true  prac- 
tical knowledge.  It  is  at  once  powerful  and  be- 
nignant, and  one  feels  always  an  electric  force 
about  Abdul  Baha  which  is  both  irresistible  and 
loving.  It  is  quite  unlike  that  of  magnetism, 
and  has  in  it  nothing  of  a  hypnotic  character. 
In  fact,  association  with  Abdul  Baha  has  the 
effect  of  rousing  the  will  and  intelligence  to  a 
marked  degree. 

Like  Baha  Ullah  he  is  deeply  interested  in 
the  progress  of  the  world,  and  seems  perfectly 
familiar  with  all  that  occurs  outside  of  Acca, 
though  he  has  not  left  that  city  of  his  long  con- 
finement. His  conversation,  whether  dealing 
with  great  questions  or  with  individuals  is  al- 
ways singularly  luminous,  and  marked  by  bril- 
liancy and  eloquence  of  expression.  In  all  his 
speech  there  is  never  a  word  that  savors  of 
"cant,"  and  he  speaks  of  the  "love  of  God"  with 
such  earnestness  and  fervor,  that  one  realizes 

159 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

he  is  talking  life,  and  that  this  is  religion.  One 
little  utterance  of  this  sort  the  author  has  never 
forgotten  because  it  was  spoken  to  herself  on 
the  occasion  of  her  visit  to  Acca.  Abdul  Baha 
had  been  alluding  to  the  restrictions  of  the 
life  in  Acca,  and  went  on  to  say : 

"But  we  are  all  happy  because  we  have  the 
love  of  God  in  our  hearts.  When  the  heart  is 
full  of  the  love  of  God  it  loses  consciousness  of 
the  body.  Then  pain  is  as  pleasure,  then  dark- 
ness is  as  light!  If  such  a  one  is  shut  in  a 
prison  there  are  no  walls  for  him,  no  solitude, 
he  knows  not  a  prison ! 

"So  the  martyrs  who  have  suffered  for  their 
faith,  their  hearts  are  so  full  of  the  love  of 
God,  their  ears  so  penetrated  by  his  songs  of 
gladness,  that  they  scarcely  feel  the  blows  in- 
flicted upon  them.  It  is  as  if  the  blow  did  not 
reach  them,  as  if  the  sword  could  not  cut  them ! 

"That  is  what  has  preserved  us  here,"  he 
added  after  a  moment.  "It  is  as  if  all  the  world 
is  here  in  us — there  is  no  world  outside  of  our 
prison !" 

It  would  be  impossible  to  reproduce  the  tone 
of  Abdul  Baha's  voice  when  he  said:  "He 
knows  not  a  prison !"  It  rang  with  such  sweet- 
ness and  happiness  that  it  seemed  as  if  all  the 
violins  and  flutes  of  earth,  in  the  hands  of  the 
most  perfect  masters  had  combined  to  produce 

160 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

that  sound.  Yet  the  speaker  had  been  a  pris- 
oner since  he  was  nine  years  old,  and  was  still 
a  prisoner  when  he  uttered  the  words. 

Abdul  Baha  speaks  Persian  as  a  rule,  though 
he  converses  freely  in  all  the  Oriental  languages 
and  is  beginning  to  use  those  of  the  western 
world  now  that  police  restriction  is  lightened. 
He  has  half-a-dozen  interpreters  and  translaters 
in  the  household  usually,  and  his  youngest 
daughter,  who  speaks  English  exceedingly  well, 
frequently  acts  as  his  intermediary  with  western 
women. 

Abdul  Baha  is  married  and  has  four  daugh- 
ters, three  of  whom  are  married,  but  all  live  in 
the  house  with  him,  and  have  preferred  to  share 
his  confinement.  The  sons-in-law  do  business  in 
Haifa,  coming  back  and  forth  at  will.  The 
wife  of  Abdul  Baha  is  a  particularly  sweet  and 
motherly  woman  of  very  noble  character.  An- 
other remarkable  member  of  the  circle  is  Behiah 
Khanom,  who  is  called  the  Greatest  Holy  Leaf, 
an  oriental  title  hardly  comprehensible  to  west- 
ern ears.  She  is  the  elder  sister  of  Abdul  Baha 
and  has  refused  marriage  because  she  could  en- 
joy more  complete  freedom  in  the  home  of  her 
brother  than  in  an  outside  environment  gov- 
erned by  Mohammedan  law.  There  is  a  deeper 
reason  of  course,  for  no  one  who  has  been  priv- 
ileged to  live  in  the  radius  of  a  Messenger  of 

161 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

God  could  ever  prefer  to  leave  it,  and  the  Great- 
est Holy  Leaf  is  an  exceedingly  gifted  and  sen- 
sitive person.  She  is  tall  and  slender  with  won- 
derful blue  eyes,  in  which  all  the  sorrows  and 
joys  of  the  world  seem  to  be  mirrored,  and  a 
countenance  which  is  fairly  electric  in  its  quick 
changes. 

The  ladies  of  the  family  are  admirable  house- 
wives. They  make  all  their  own  simple  wearing 
apparel,  by  the  aid  of  a  sewing  machine  from 
the  western  world.  They  oversee  the  produc- 
tion of  the  kitchen  for  their  many  guests  and 
are  thoroughly  hygienic  in  the  cleanliness  of 
their  environment.  They  typify  the  modern 
saint,  the  conception  of  whom  obliges  us  to  rev- 
olutionize our  entire  spiritual  cosmogony.  A 
fashionable  woman  of  the  western  world,  as 
helpless  as  are  some  of  these  artificial  dames, 
and  as  eager  for  spiritual  culture,  was  caugght 
in  the  gentle  household  without  a  trunk,  and  so 
handsomely  garbed  that  she  felt  disgraced  in 
the  presence  of  the  lovely  simplicity  that  reigns 
there.  The  Greatest  Holy  Leaf  thereupon 
made  her  a  print  dress  with  her  own  beautiful 
hands,  which  was  a  model  for  grace  and  adjust- 
ment. The  western  woman  is  still  puzzling  per- 
haps over  the  problem  of  how  such  profound 
spirituality  can  be  associated  with  such  excel- 

162 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

lent  practical  skill  and  sense,  but  in  reality  they 
are  always  found  side  by  side. 

This  principle  is  one  we  see  constantly  illus- 
trated in  this  household.  It  helps  us  to  realize 
that  we  must  no  longer  look  for  a  man  of  God 
in  seclusion,  and  as  a  recluse.  Abdul  Baha  de- 
clares that  the  seeker  finds  God  most  truly  if  he 
seeks  him  as  a  citizen  of  the  world,  working  with 
his  brothers  for  the  betterment  of  mankind. 

We  have  learned  that  a  Messenger  of  God 
must  be  a  "man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with 
grief,"  otherwise  how  could  he  know  so  well  the 
sorrows  of  the  world?  But  this  man  of  sorrows 
must  have  learned  the  law  of  happiness,  so  that 
he  radiates  it  upon  all  who  approach  him,  and 
this  is  certainly  true  of  Abdul  Baha.  Mel- 
ancholy could  not  reside  under  the  same  roof 
with  him,  and  all  who  go  to  him  find  that  they 
are  learning  lessons  in  regard  to  the  necessity 
and  the  meaning  of  happiness  which  they  never 
previously  dreamed  of,  and  it  is  a  happiness  not 
dependent  at  all  upon  the  things  of  this  world. 

Although  Abdul  Baha  is  a  poor  man  his  char- 
ities are  manifold.  He  provides  for  many 
widows  of  the  martyrs  who  have  given  their  lives 
for  the  faith  in  recent  years,  and  educates  their 
children.  Every  Friday  morning  also  he  spends 
with  the  poor  of  Acca,  who  gather  in  the  large 

163 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

courtyard  of  the  house  and  tell  him  their 
troubles,  sure  of  a  sympathetic  hearing.  Acca 
has  been  simply  a  prison  city  so  many  years 
that  there  are  no  means  of  livelihood  there  for 
the  very  poor,  so  that  much  helpless  poverty 
exists.  Abdul  Baha  is  not  content  to  give 
merely  money,  however.  He  is  well  acquainted 
with  all  upon  whom  he  bestows  his  gifts,  and 
never  fails  to  add  the  cheering  and  illuminating 
word,  so  that  it  is  a  suggestive  spectacle  to  see 
his  providing  for  his  poor.  It  may  be  added 
that  the  poverty-stricken  unfortunates  who 
come  thus  to  Abdul  Baha  are  all  Mohammedans. 
They  are  of  the  people  who  have  persecuted 
him  during  his  entire  life.  No  follower  of  Baha 
Ullah  is  allowed  to  accept  or  demand  charity. 
The  Blessed  Perfection  said  to  his  devotees : 

"If  you  are  in  need  call  upon  the  bounty  of 
God,  and  you  will  be  relieved  immediately,  for 
God  is  rich,  He  is  the  Provider!" 

Neither  Abdul  Baha  nor  his  family  ever 
spend  a  penny  upon  luxury,  because  they  are  so 
deeply  aware  of  the  suffering  they  would  like 
to  relieve.  The  dress  of  the  Center  of  the  Cov- 
enant is  always  of  the  simplest,  and  a  story  is 
familiar  which  relates  how  the  dear  Holy 
Mother,  as  the  wife  of  Abdul  Balm  is  termed, 
schemed  subtly  to  provide  a  more  expensive  coat 
for  the  man  of  God  than  the  one  he  usually 

164 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

wore.  She  felt  that  when  he  entertained  the 
Governor  of  Acca  he  should  be  garbed  in  a 
handsomer  coat,  and  trusting  to  that  uncon- 
sciousness of  himself  which  is  one  of  his  charac- 
teristics, she  planned  to  order  a  more  costly 
garment  from  the  tailor,  and  substitute  it  on 
the  important  morning  for  the  one  habitually 
worn.  She  believed  that  he  would  never  know 
the  difference.  He  is  punctilious  in  cleanliness 
but  that  is  all. 

However,  upon  the  morning  in  question  Ab- 
dul Baha  went  searching  through  the  house  in 
great  excitement. 

"Where  is  my  coat?  Where  is  my  coat?"  he 
cried,  "some  one  has  left  me  a  coat  which  is  not 
mine !" 

The  Holy  Mother  appeared  and  tried  in  vain 
to  explain  away  the  presence  of  the  expensive 
coat.  Abdul  Baha  was  completely  unreason- 
able upon  the  question  of  clothes. 

"But  think  of  this !"  he  exclaimed,  "For  the 
price  of  this  coat  you  can  buy  five  such  as  I 
ordinarily  use,  and  do  you  think  I  would  spend 
so  much  money  upon  a  coat  which  only  I  shall 
wear?  If  you  think  I  need  a  new  one,  very 
well,  but  send  this  back  and  have  the  tailor  make 
me  for  this  price  five  such  as  I  usually  have. 
Then  you  see,  I  shall  not  only  have  a  new  one, 
but  I  shall  also  have  four  to  give  to  others !" 

165 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

A  little  story  of  a  friend's  experience  reveals 
somewhat  of  the  influence  which  contact  with 
Abdul  Baha  exercises  upon  character.  She  was 
a  woman  of  fashionable  rearing,  full  of  noble 
theories,  but  a  trifle  inexperienced  in  their  ap- 
plication because  she  had  seen  little  of  the  world 
outside  of  her  own  particularly  gentle  circle. 
She  had  a  beautiful  little  boy  not  quite  a  year 
old,  to  whom  she  gave  all  the  devotion  of  a 
young  mother.  It  happened  one  day  she  stood 
in  the  court  of  the  house  wTith  the  infant  in  her 
arms,  when  a  Mohammedan  beggar  woman  wan- 
dered in.  She  was  an  unusually  wretched  speci- 
men of  her  filthy  class,  and  she  approached  the 
pretty  American  lady,  sure  of  a  generous 
"douceur"  and  attempted  to  caress  the  beauti- 
ful child. 

Poor  Mrs.  A.  had  a  sudden  vision  of  all  the 
most  contagious  and  dreadful  diseases  which 
the  unfortunate  creature  might  transmit  to  her 
sweet  baby,  and  fled  swiftly  to  an  inner  room. 
She  watched  her  assailant,  however,  fearing  she 
might  be  followed,  and  meanwhile  Abdul  Baha 
passed  through  the  court.  He  paused  to  speak 
to  the  distressing  woman,  gave  her  some  money 
and  rested  his  hand  caressingly  upon  her  shoul- 
der while  he  spoke  to  her.  There  are  lepers 
among  the  waiting  throng  who  come  to  him  on 

166 


THE   SHINING  PATHWAY 

Fridays,  but  he  never  seems  to  make  any  differ- 
ence in  his  loving  contact  with  them. 

The  woman  was  evidently  grateful  for  the 
kindness  of  the  "heretic"  and  said  as  she  turned 
away,  "I  will  pray  for  you !"  Abdul  Baha 
bowed  his  head  in  thanks  and  went  on  evidently 
unconscious  that  he  had  done  anything  remark- 
able, but  Mrs.  A.  stood  looking,  her  eyes  full  of 
tears. 

"He  is  the  nearest  to  God  of  any  man  in  the 
world !"  she  said  to  herself,  "yet  he  thanked 
that  rag  of  humanity  for  her  prayers,  and  I 
would  not  even  let  her  touch  my  baby !" 

Then  all  at  once,  as  she  stood  there  the  class 
feeling  fell  away  from  her,  she  knew  suddenly 
the  meaning  of  brotherhood,  and  it  has  not  left 
her  since.  She  ran  after  the  woman  to  try  and 
catch  her,  but  she  had  disappeared  swiftly. 
Since  then,  however,  she  has  found  many  others. 

There  are  certain  virtues  which  Abdul  Baha 
is  always  insisting  upon  in  his  talks  with  others, 
and  they  are  the  same  as  those  that  Jesus  coun- 
selled. We  must  not  criticise,  we  must  forgive, 
we  must  serve  others.  As  an  illustration  of  the 
humility  he  inculcates,  and  the  nobility  of  serv- 
ice Abdul  Baha  always  insists  upon  serving 
those  who  sit  at  his  table,  upon  all  occasions  of 
any  formality.  He  seems  to  say: 

167 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"If  you  would  be  stately,  be  above  all  things 
humble." 

He  has  said  so  much  upon  this  theme  of  serv- 
ice and  "living  the  life"  that  his  followers  have 
gathered  some  of  these  precious  words  into  a 
little  leaflet  which  has  gone  far  and  wide.  It 
is  headed: 

"By  these  things  shall  ye  know  the  faithful 
servant  of  God." 

"To  live  the  life.  To  be  no  cause  of  grief 
to  any  one. 

"To  love  each  other  very  much. 

"To  be  kind  to  all  people,  and  to  love  them 
•with  a  pure  spirit. 

"Should  opposition  or  injury  be  done  to  us, 
we  must  bear  it,  and  be  as  kind  as  ever  we  can 
be,  and  through  it  all  we  must  love  the  people. 
Should  calamity  exist  in  the  greatest  degree, 
we  must  rejoice,  for  these  things  are  the  gifts 
and  favors  of  God. 

"To  be  silent  concerning  the  faults  of  others, 
to  pray  for  them,  and  help  them,  through  kind- 
ness, to  correct  their  faults. 

"To  look  always  at  the  good  and  not  at  the 
bad.  If  a  man  has  ten  good  qualities  and  one 
bad  one,  we  must  look  at  the  ten  and  forget  the 
one.  And  if  a  man  has  ten  bad  qualities,  and 
one  good  one,  we  must  look  at  the  one  and  for- 
get the  ten. 

168 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"To  never  allow  ourselves  to  speak  one  un- 
kind word  about  another,  even  though  that 
other  be  our  enemy. 

"To  rebuke  those  who  speak  to  us  about  the 
faults  of  others. 

"All  of  our  deeds  must  be  done  in  kindness. 

"To  be  occupied  in  spreading  the  Teachings 
for  only  thorough  obedience  to  this  command 
Abclul  Baha  has  said  will  we  receive  the  power 
and  confirmation  of  the  Spirit;  and  that  who- 
soever is  granted  this  power  and  confirmation 
of  the  Spirit  is  under  the  Favor  of  God,  but 
otherwise  he  is  as  a  lamp  without  light.  Abdul 
Baha  also  said  that,  "every  seed  cast  in  this 
great  and  magnificent  period  will  be  cultivated 
by  God,  and  produce  plants,  through  the 
abundance  of  the  clouds  of  his  mercy." 

"To  cut  our  hearts  from  ourselves  and  from 
the  world. 

"To  be  humble. 

"To  be  servants  of  each  other,  and  to  know 
that  we  are  less  than  any  one  else. 

"To  be  as  one  soul  in  many  bodies;  for  the 
more  we  love  each  other  the  nearer  we  are  to 
God;  but  our  love,  our  unity,  our  obedience 
must  be  not  by  confession  but  of  reality. 

"To  act  with  cautiousness  and  wisdom. 

"To  be  truthful. 

"To  be  hospitable. 

169 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

"To  be  reverent. 

"To  be  a  cause  of  healing  for  every  sick  one ; 
a  comforter  for  every  sorrowing  one ;  a  pleasant 
water  for  every  thirsty  one;  a  heavenly  table 
for  every  hungry  one ;  a  guide  for  every  seeker ; 
a  light  for  every  lamp ;  rain  for  cultivation ;  a 
star  to  every  Horizon ;  a  Herald  to  every  yearn- 
ing one  for  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

In  illustration  of  the  admonition  against 
criticism  Abdul  Baha  is  very  fond  of  telling  an 
apochryphal  story  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  runs 
something  like  this: 

One  day  as  the  Saviour  was  walking  in  the 
country  with  his  disciples,  they  passed  the  car- 
case of  a  dead  dog,  in  an  advanced  state  of  de- 
cay. Each  one  expressed  in  different  fashion 
his  disgust  at  the  spectacle.  One  commented 
upon  the  dreadful  odor,  another  upon  the  swol- 
len and  disgusting  flesh,  etc.,  etc.  Jesus  said 
nothing  of  all  these  things,  but  approaching  the 
creature  took  a  stick  and  poked  out  its  jaw 
from  the  mass  of  decaying  substance. 

"See,"  He  remarked  suddenly,  "how  white 
and  brilliant  are  the  dog's  teeth !" 

This  shows  us,  comments  Abdul  Baha  that 
we  can  always  find  some  good  point  to  enlarge 
upon,  even  among  the  most  distressing  and 
wicked  people.  We  can  call  attention  to  the 
dog's  teeth ! 

170 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

In  illustration  of  Abdul  Baha's  long  patience 
under  injuries,  a  patience  which  must  always 
be  loving  and  cheerful  as  he  insists,  the  persecu- 
tion of  an  old  Mohammedan  fakir  is  recalled. 
He  was  fanatically  religious  and  also  exceed- 
ingly poor.  He  stood  always  at  the  door  of  the 
Mosque,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  abuse 
and  curse  Abdul  Baha,  whom  he  regarded  as  a 
dangerous  and  pestiferous  heretic.  The  Serv- 
ant of  God  pitied  his  misery,  and  every  morn- 
ing sent  him  a  basket  of  food,  which  was  suffi- 
cient to  last  him  for  the  day.  Every  morning 
when  the  tempting  basket  was  presented  to  him, 
the  fakir  virtuously  kicked  it  into  the  ditch,  and 
cursed  Abdul  Baha  anew.  This  went  on  for 
twenty-three  years,  until  at  last  one  morning 
when  the  attendant  brought  the  basket  of  food 
and  placed  it  gently  beside  him,  the  contumacy 
of  the  old  fakir  disappeared.  He  burst  into 
tears,  he  seized  the  basket  of  food,  ran  with  it 
to  the  home  of  Abdul  Baha  and  would  have 
prostrated  himself  if  he  had  been  permitted,  ex- 
claiming : 

"Oh  forgive  me  for  all  my  wickedness,  and 
let  me  serve  you,  for  I  know  that  God  is  in  you ! 
Only  God  could  show  such  kindness !" 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  Abdul  Baha  is  his 
dislike  for  forms  and  ceremonies,  and  his  dis- 
taste of  all  that  savors  of  officialism.  The  love 

171 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

and  reverence  of  those  about  him  is  so  extreme 
that  if  it  were  not  for  this  pronounced  deter- 
mination of  the  opposite  character  they  would 
long  since  have  constituted  him  a  high  priest  in 
his  own  world  at  least.  Not  long  since  an  un- 
usually large  and  dignified  company  of  pilgrims 
had  arrived  at  Acca,  and  it  was  planned  to  re- 
ceive them  in  the  beautiful  garden  of  the  Riz- 
wan.  It  is  the  custom  of  the  country  to  wash 
the  hands  always  before  any  important  cere- 
mony, before  prayers,  before  eating,  etc.  It  is 
a  Mohammedan  custom,  and  these  little  form- 
alities of  the  people  Abdul  Baha  is  always  care- 
ful not  to  disdain. 

Upon  this  occasion,  however,  the  friends  had 
arranged  a  very  charming  and,  as  they  thought, 
effective  ceremony  at  the  reception  of  the  pil- 
grims. They  sent  a  beautiful  boy  in  advance 
of  the  company,  bearing  a  highly  polished  pew- 
ter bowl,  a  handsome  bronze  pitcher,  and  a  clean 
damask  towel,  scented  with  attar  of  rose.  The 
intention  was  that  the  Servant  of  God  should 
make  a  noble  function  of  the  simple  ablution  of 
his  hands,  and  all  would  enjoy  it,  and  reverence 
him  the  more.  Abdul  Baha  saw  the  procession 
coming,  however,  and  divined  immediately  what 
was  in  the  air.  There  was  a  trough  with  a  pipe 
for  watering  the  flowers  at  the  end  of  the  gar- 
den, and  a  much  soiled  towel  hung  there  for  the 
172 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

convenience  of  any  one  who  needed  to  wash  the 
hands.  Abdul  Baha  ran  hastily  to  the  trough, 
performed  a  most  informal  cleansing  and  then 
rushed  back  to  love  the  dusty  pilgrims,  and 
pass  them  most  hospitably  the  beautiful  pewter 
bowl,  and  the  rose  scented  towel.  So  there  was 
no  function  except  the  spiritual  meeting  which 
he  always  delights  in,  and  he  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  others  enjoy  the  pretty  bowl,  the  clear 
water,  and  the  fragrant  towel. 

The  tenor  of  Abdul  Baha's  life  is  broken  by 
many  wonderful  occurrences  which  the  world 
calls  "miracles,"  but  their  producer  himself  de- 
clares that  miracles  do  not  exist.  There  are 
laws  of  which  we  have  hardly  begun  to  under- 
stand the  application  and  use,  like  the  law  of 
the  4th  dimension,  and  things  previously  un- 
heard of  and  impossible  may  be  accomplished 
by  new  knowledge  or  illumination  in  such  direc- 
tions. 

Abdul  Baha  is  not  a  "healer"  and  declares 
that  his  own  mission  is  to  the  soul  of  man,  and 
not  to  the  body,  yet  many  who  have  suffered 
illness  in  his  house  have  been  healed,  sometimes 
in  dramatic  and  astonishing  fashion.  One  in- 
stance in  particular  illustrates  this:  An  Am- 
erican lady  was  on  her  way  to  Acca,  and  while 
waiting  at  Haifa  with  her  little  family,  was 
taken  violently  ill  with  typhoid  fever.  Every- 

173 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

thing  was  done  for  her  that  nurses  and  physi- 
cians could  compass,  but  nothing  touched  the 
disease,  which  appeared  in  its  most  virulent 
phase,  and  seemingly  must  "run  its  course." 

One  day  during  the  afternoon  the  daughters 
of  Abdul  Baha  came  to  see  the  American  lady, 
and  distressed  at  her  suffering,  they  said  as 
they  left: 

"Have  no  fear.  We  will  tell  our  Lord  (for 
so  they  spoke  of  Abdul  Baha)  and  at  twelve 
o'clock  to-night  you  will  be  relieved." 

During  the  afternoon  and  evening  there  was 
no  alteration  in  the  invalid's  condition,  and  anx- 
iety constantly  deepened,  but  suddenly  at  mid- 
night the  patient  turned  to  her  husband  and  ex- 
claimed, "I  feel  better!  So  much  better!" 

"What  time  is  it?"  he  cried  instantly,  and  it 
was  five  minutes  after  twelve. 

She  fell  asleep  almost  immediately,  and  rose 
the  next  morning  as  well  as  she  had  ever  been. 

Meanwhile  all  who  have  gone  to  Abdul  Baha 
in  illness  have  received  instructions  which  have 
resulted  sometimes  in  physical  healing,  always 
in  spiritual  restoration.  There  are  numberless 
instances  of  his  clear  seeing,  but  he  uses  such 
power  only  when  it  is  necessary  to  save  a  soul, 
or  help  another,  never  in  phenomenal  fashion. 

Not    long   since,    a    woman    believer    in    the 

174 


THE  SHINING  PATHWAY 

Orient  was  in  great  trouble.  Her  husband  did 
not  accept  the  truth  to  which  she  had  given  her 
heart,  and  moreover  opposed  it  violently,  and 
dilemmas  and  tribulations  thickened  upon  her 
until  she  felt  that  if  she  did  not  go  to  Acca  and 
see  the  center  of  the  mighty  movement  in  which 
her  faith  rested,  she  could  not  live.  So  she 
begged  her  husband's  permission  for  the  jour- 
ney, and  wrote  to  Abdul  Baha.  This  modern 
iconoclast  laughed  at  her,  and  said: 

"I  will  let  you  go  to  this  man  by  whom  you 
are  deluded  if  he  will  perform  a  miracle,  but  he 
can  not  do  it!  I  am  perfectly  safe  in  my 
promise !  I  will  write  a  series  of  questions  and 
lay  the  envelope  containing  them  in  my  safe. 
Then  I  will  put  a  blank  sheet  of  paper  in  your 
letter.  You  will  say  nothing  in  explanation  of 
its  presence,  and  anyway  you  would  not  know 
what  I  ask!  If  he  answers  my  questions,  you 
can  go  to  Acca!" 

The  poor  lady  was  helpless  to  oppose  the 
trick,  which  she  would  never  have  countenanced, 
so  her  letter  came  to  Abdul  Baha  containing  a 
blank  sheet  of  paper.  The  mail  at  Acca  is  so 
voluminous  that  it  is  always  opened  and  ar- 
ranged by  one  of  the  young  secretarys  and  on 
the  morning  when  this  missive  arrived  the  gen- 
tleman in  attendance  called  Abdul  Baha's  at- 
tention to  it. 

175 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"How  strange !"  he  cried.  "Here  is  a  letter 
containing  a  blank  sheet  of  paper !" 

Abdul  Baha  took  it  and  laughed.  "This  is  a 
test  imposed  upon  me!"  he  explained.  "Let  us 
attend  to  the  matter  without  delay !" 

So  he  dictated  a  response  to  the  unfortunate 
lady  and  then  one  to  her  husband.  In  the  letter 
he  spoke  most  lovingly  to  the  scoffing  querist, 
answered  categorically  the  puzzles  propounded, 
and  opened  his  soul  to  light,  so  that  as  soon  as 
possible  he  accompanied  his  wife  to  Acca,  and 
became  a  devout  and  earnest  believer,  ensuring 
happiness  to  his  wife  as  well  as  himself. 

The  experience  of  Miss  Sarah  Farmer,  of 
Greenacre  fame,  is  a  similar  one  and  well  known 
to  many  persons.  Miss  Farmer,  like  the  Orien- 
tal questioner,  perhaps  needed  the  revelation  of 
Abdul  Baha's  illumination  to  ensure  her  cer- 
tainty in  his  great  mission.  She  had  many 
problems  to  submit  to  Abdul  Baha,  and  fearing 
she  might  forget  something  of  importance  in  the 
excitement  of  her  important  interview,  she  spent 
the  preceding  night  in  pouring  out  her  soul  in 
a  written  review  of  her  life  to  lay  before  this 
illuminated  adviser.  She  then  carefully  wrote 
out  fifteen  questions  to  ask  him,  and  laid  the 
paper  containing  them  in  her  Bible. 

At  five  in  the  morning  Abdul  Baha  sent  for 
her,  and  I  quote  the  words  of  Mirza  Raffi,  the 

176 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

young  Persian  interpreter,  who  Englished  this 
famous  interview.  Mirza  Raffii  accompanied 
Miss  Farmer  to  Acca  and  thus  first  came  in 
contact  with  Abdul  Baha,  though  he  had  ac- 
cepted his  teaching  some  time  previously.  She 
had  encountered  him  in  Cairo,  and  he  had  been 
delegated  to  attend  her  by  Mirza  Abul  Fazl,  the 
famous  teacher  who  had  instructed  her  in  the 
faith. 

In  her  perturbation  caused  by  this  early  sum- 
mons, Miss  Farmer  had  left  all  her  documents 
so  anxiously  tabulated,  on  the  table  of  the 
chamber  she  vacated  to  meet  Abdul  Baha. 
When  she  was  seated  in  his  presence  he  turned 
to  Mirza  Raffi  and  said : 

"Tell  Miss  Farmer  that  this  is  the  answer  to 
her  first  question,"  and  went  on  with  an  explan- 
ation. 

Mirza  Raffii  had  not  heard  any  question,  and 
hesitated  in  his  translation,  whereupon  Abbas 
Effendi  repeated  with  an  insistence  which  could 
not  be  set  aside,  his  previous  statement,  adding, 
"she  will  understand!"  Then  the  interpreter 
translated  the  words  addressed  to  him.  The 
succeeding  question  was  next  discussed,  and  so 
on  to  the  end  of  the  list  which  was  reposing 
quietly  in  the  Bible  of  the  deserted  upper  apart- 
ment. The  written  order  was  adhered  to,  and 
Abdul  Baha  spoke  to  his  questioner  with  such 

177 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

exaltation  that  she  was  amazed.  He  went  on  to 
allude  to  many  subjects  confided  to  her  paper, 
but  not  placed  in  his  hands.  It  was  not  merely 
that  he  knew  the  words  inscribed,  but  that  he 
lifted  their  burden  from  her  soul,  and  all  her 
being  was  stirred.  She  burst  into  tears  at 
length,  strange  tears  of  ecstatic  happiness,  and 
went  to  her  room  to  recover  the  composure 
which  had  been  shaken  by  these  surprising  and 
illuminating  events. 

Such  instances  might  be  multiplied,  for  this 
heavenly  gift  of  breaking  the  bonds  of  the  flesh 
in  those  who  come  to  him  is  experienced  by 
many  guests  of  Abdul  Baha.  It  is  the  waken- 
ing  which  for  the  first  time  gives  true  life,  so 
that  after  it  has  been  felt  the  previous  existence 
seems  like  death,  and  this  awakening  is  the  most 
precious  result  of  contact  with  the  Servant  of 
God.  Necessarily  one  does  not  need  the  jour- 
ney to  Acca  to  experience  it,  for  the  gift  and 
the  contact  are  spiritual.  As  a  result  of  trans- 
formation of  tendencies,  an  enlightenment  of 
temperament  must  follow,  which  will  be  evi- 
denced in  the  life  of  the  individual.  Perhaps  the 
character  of  this  is  illustrated  by  the  blessing 
which  Abdul  Baha  wrote  for  a  musican  who  was 
recently  in  Acca: 

"O  God ! 

"Make  this  servant  melodious,  attuned  with 

178 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

the  airs  of  the  Supreme  Concourse,  and  confer 
upon  him  a  thrilling  and  resounding  voice,  like 
the  nightingale  of  hidden  meanings  in  the  Di- 
vine Rose  Garden." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  SPIRITUAL  TEACHINGS  OF  ABDUL  BAHA. 

It  is  rather  a  remarkable  thing  that  the  three 
great  leaders  of  the  Bahaist  movement  with 
their  pure  spiritual  principles  should  all  have 
been  married  men.  The  ascetic  celibacy  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  open  resignation  of  the  mar- 
ried state  by  Gotama  Buddha,  together  with 
the  attitude  of  the  early  church  in  regard  to 
woman,  and  the  celibate  tendency  of  most  spir- 
itual societies  has  created  a  feeling  more  or 
less  freely  expressed  that  the  single  state  is  bet- 
ter for  holy  living  than  that  of  sex  union.  The 
result  has  been  a  somewhat  morbid  condition  of 
the  human  mind  upon  this  absorbing  question 
of  sex.  It  was  evident  that  men  and  women 
needed  to  do  more  thinking  as  to  its  true  status, 
and  familiarity  with  this  wide-spread  religious 
upheaval  begun  by  the  True  One  in  1844  must 
certainly  have  such  an  effect. 

Abdul  Baha  says  no  one  need  fear  marriage 

179 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

for  the  law  of  sex  is  a  part  of  the  divine  ar- 
rangement in  this  phenomenal  outer  world,  and 
its  rational  and  righteous  use  fits  every  human 
being  better  for  the  sphere  to  which  he  or  she 
belongs.  The  abused  law  brings  dire  conse- 
quences which  he  must  suffer  who  has  become 
subject  to  them,  but  the  abuse  proves  nothing 
against  the  value  of  the  law  itself. 

Our  traditional  image  of  a  Messenger  of  God 
is  created  largely  by  the  asceticism  of  the  early 
church,  which  in  its  eagerness  to  be  detached 
from  the  world  fled  from  it  into  the  wilderness. 
So  the  holy  men  like  beloved  Saint  Francis  of 
Assissi  feared  the  charm  of  women,  feared  all 
the  beauty  and  loveliness  of  the  universe,  so  that 
they  flew  from  it  as  from  an  enchantress.  St. 
Francis  was  happy,  however,  he  was  too  near 
his  Saviour  not  to  have  learned  that  lesson,  and 
if  he  had  walked  the  pathways  of  Judea  with 
Christ  in  his  short  and  painful  pilgrimage  he 
would  no  doubt  have  seen  him  laugh  with  his 
disciples  many  times,  and  he  would  have  caught 
the  same  wonderful  light  in  his  eyes  as  that 
which  now  and  then  illuminates  the  countenance 
of  Abdul  Baha.  When  we  realize  what  it  means 
to  be  near  to  God,  we  understand  that  an  indi- 
vidual so  blessed  can  not  always  have  tears  in 
the  eyes ! 

For  many  years  Abdul  Baha  has  carried  on 

180 


THE,  SHINING   PATHWAY 

an  enormous  correspondence,  touching  all  por- 
tions of  the  globe,  and  nothing  is  more  won- 
derful than  to  see  him  dictating  his  letters  to 
a  corps  of  stenographers.  Perhaps  the  guest 
who  witnesses  this  strange  spectacle  has  visited 
the  ancient  French  city  of  Tours,  where,  on 
the  edge  of  the  town,  the  eternal  hills  preserve 
a  series  of  cells  hollowed  out  of  the  rocks  by 
human  hands.  In  these  cells  dwelt  St.  Martin 
with  his  little  band  of  faithful  followers.  He 
came  from  Rome  in  the  fourth  century  of  our 
era,  and  it  was  by  his  scholarly  hand  that  the 
rock  was  dug  out  to  afford  him  a  most  cheer- 
less habitation.  But  he  deserted  ease  and  cul- 
ture to  convert  the  barbarians  to  Christianity, 
and  we  can  be  certain  he  was  happy  in  his  work. 
We  see  here  the  holes  which  the  Saint  had 
scooped  from  the  stone  to  hold  his  rosary,  and 
prayer  book,  we  see  the  stone  slab  where  he 
slept,  and  all  the  lonely  seclusion  in  which  he 
labored  for  the  salvation  of  the  "heathen"  in 
that  primitive  day. 

Utterly  selfless  he  was,  and  forgetful  of  all 
but  the  glorious  message  entrusted  to  him.  His 
miracles  were  always  those  of  love.  Once  when 
he  had  given  away  even  the  garments  he  wore, 
and  his  nakedness  was  only  covered  by  a  cloak, 
a  beggar  asked  him  for  that,  and  he  instantly 
tore  it  in  two  portions,  presenting  the  beggar, 

181 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

we  may  be  sure,  with  the  larger  half!  Is  it 
strange  after  such  examples  of  courage  and  de- 
privation that  we  should  think  of  a  divine  man 
ever  as  a  lonely  celibate? 

But  the  life  of  Abdul  Baha  offers  a  brilliant 
example  of  the  same  virtues,  and  has  been  spent 
constantly  in  a  crowded  center,  so  that  he  has 
no  hours  of  solitude  except  those  he  snatches 
from  an  almost  necessary  slumber,  after  he  has 
sought  the  little  chamber  at  the  top  of  his 
house. 

His  correspondence  is  carried  on  in  a  large 
room  in  the  lower  story  where  five  or  six  stenog- 
raphers await  him.  Abdul  Baha  seldom  dictates 
one  letter  at  a  time.  As  a  rule  his  stenog- 
raphers sit  in  a  line.  He  begins  at  one  end  with 
the  paragraph  of  a  letter  destined  perhaps  for 
America,  pauses  at  the  next,  and  begins  one 
for  Persia,  pauses  again  with  some  words  for  a 
believer  in  Turkey,  and  so  on  down  the  succes- 
sion of  busy  paragraphers.  More  surprising 
than  all  he  frequently  carries  on  a  lively  con- 
versation while  in  the  act  of  dictating.  He  ad- 
dresses a  guest  who  is  watching  the  perform- 
ance, and  discusses  the  Cause  in  America, 
maybe,  while  he  is  writing  to  the  survivor  of 
Persian  massacres.  The  dictation  is  always  in 
the  oriental  languages  of  the  individuals  to 
whom  the  tablets  are  addressed,  and  Abdul  Baha 

182 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

will  spring  from  Turkish  to  Aramaic,  then  into 
Persian  or  Arabic  without  an  instant's  hesita- 
tion, but  if  he  is  sending  to  a  western  country, 
he  speaks  in  swift  Persian  and  the  stenographer 
translates  the  epistle  which  reaches  its  con- 
signee in  both  languages. 

Meanwhile  the  missives  are  despatched,  and 
each  one  is  so  psychologically  attuned  to  the 
person  to  whom  it  is  written  that  it  would  seem 
as  if  it  could  only  be  indited  by  some  one 
familiar  with  every  detail  of  the  recipient's 
life  and  soul.  Yet  in  all  probability  Abdul 
Baha  has  received  merely  a  formal  expression 
of  faith  from  his  correspondent.  The  letter  has 
been  filed  away  in  a  cabinet  with  thousands  of 
others,  and  on  the  morning  it  was  answered, 
Abdul  Baha  took  it  out  from  the  mass  of 
papers,  and  despatched  his  reply  because  he 
felt  that  the  psychologic  moment  had  arrived 
when  the  stranger  so  far  away  needed  the  vital 
touch  of  his  dynamic  spirit. 

The  writer  has  read  countless  letters  of  this 
sort,  so  wonderful  in  their  tenderness,  penetra- 
tion and  insight,  that  it  would  seem  as  if  they 
could  only  be  dictated  after  profound  medita- 
tion upon  the  subject  or  individual  involved. 
Yet  all  are  written  in  the  swift,  apparently 
careless,  fashion  described,  but  when  the  happy 
recipient  peruses  his  own,  he  knows  that  there 

183 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

was  no  carelessness  in  its  composition.  Each 
missive  is  a  shred  of  illumination  from  the 
great  Messenger,  and  could  not  fail  of  its  fine 
intent. 

A  proof  of  this  illumination  is  seen  in  the 
enormous  spread  of  this  remarkable  movement 
in  spite  of  the  persecution  and  imprisonment 
of  all  its  leaders.  The  cause  has  grown  from 
the  simple  power  of  the  Divine  Word  from 
their  lips.  Abdul  Baha  says  this  is  the  final 
test  of  the  reality  of  the  True  One.  Healing 
and  miracles  of  various  sorts  are  always  con- 
nected with  the  appearance  of  a  Manifestation 
of  God,  but  none  except  such  a  Manifestation 
speaks  the  Divine  Word,  and  once  spoken  it  is 
whispered  from  lip  to  lip  in  spite  of  all  the 
obstacles  which  blind  humanity  heaps  against 
its  progress. 

So  the  Word  of  Christ,  not  a  syllable  of  it 
written,  dropped  into  the  cars  of  the  ignorant 
fishermen  about  him,  and  after  centuries  it  has 
transformed  civilization.  Likewise  the  Word 
of  Mohammed  preserved  in  the  eloquent  sent- 
ences of  the  Koran  reappeared  in  the  splendid 
efflorescence  of  Moorish  culture  which  was 
blighted  and  slain  by  the  iron  hand  of  Spanish 
theology. 

No  barriers  could  have  been  reared  higher 
than  those  which  have  been  piled  against  the 

184 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

extension  of  the  Bab's  message,  and  that  of 
Baha  Ullah.  In  the  beginning  the  martyrdom 
of  the  Bab's  followers  must  have  distanced  the 
sufferings  of  the  early  Christians.  Then  for  a 
time  persecution  ceased,  and  did  not  break 
forth  afresh  until  after  the  death  of  Baha 
Ullah.  Once  more  it  appeared  however,  in- 
cited by  the  narrowness  and  jealousy  of  the 
Mohammedan  clergy,  and  the  agonies  of  the  be- 
lievers were  frightful  almost  up  to  the  moment 
when  the  adoption  of  the  Persian  constitution 
seemed  to  promise  hope  to  the  tortured  ones. 

Even  then  the  plotting  against  the  "friends" 
went  on.  Abdul  Baha  with  that  clear  sight 
which  apparently  nothing  escapes  warned  his 
devoted  adherents  that  the  Mullahs  were  plan- 
ning to  gain  the  ear  of  the  Shah,  and  they  re- 
alized too  late  the  truth  of  his  prediction. 
Meanwhile  the  direful  calamity  of  the  new 
Shah's  reactionary  policy  proved  in  the  end 
a  blessing  for  the  Bahais,  because  the  thorough 
shaking  up  of  the  nation  laid  bare  the  secret 
scheming  of  the  Mullahs,  and  put  the  people  on 
their  guard. 

This  same  reactionary  Shah,  while  in  the 
height  of  his  quarrel  with  the  people,  wrote  to 
Abdul  !Baha  asking  him  what  he  saw  as  the 
result  of  the  trouble,  and  what  course  of  action 

185 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

he  would  recommend.  Whereupon  Abdul  Baha 
sent  the  Shah  a  remarkable  letter  in  which  he 
assured  him  that  in  this  day  of  the  Manifesta- 
tion of  God,  tyranny  can  no  longer  be  toler- 
ated, that  if  he  would  preserve  the  liberties  of 
his  people  and  restore  the  constitution  he  might 
look  forward  to  a  long  and  glorious  reign,  but 
if  he  persisted  in  his  reactionary  policy,  dis- 
aster must  overtake  him,  and  he  would  be  forced 
to  abdicate.  This  advice,  of  course,  the  Shah 
refused  to  follow,  and  the  prognostication  of 
Abdul  Baha  was  speedily  fulfilled. 

Among  the  many  martyrs  who  have  been 
tortured  to  death  in  Persia  because  they  be- 
lieved in  the  new  day,  the  name  of  the  youth 
Badi  will  always  be  remembered.  At  the  time 
that  Baha  Ullah  sent  his  letters  of  announce- 
ment to  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  he  pre- 
pared such  a  paper  for  the  Shah  of  Persia, 
and  asked  who  would  carry  it.  He  frankly 
said  that  the  mission  was  one  of  death,  for  the 
bearer  of  this  great  message  would  not  be 
allowed  to  escape  with  his  life.  A  number  of 
young  men  clamored  eagerly  for  the  honor, 
but  Badi  was  permitted  to  go.  He  had  seemed 
rather  dull  and  unresponsive,  though  he  had 
given  his  faith  to  the  resplendent  cause.  Now 
he  begged  so  ardently  for  the  privilege  of  the 
perilous  adventure  that  it  was  granted  him. 

186 


THE   SHINING  PATHWAY 

He  delivered  the  packet  into  the  hand  of  the 
Shah  as  he  had  been  commissioned  to  do,  was 
promptly  seized  and  thrown  into  prison,  whence 
he  was  led  forth  only  to  his  death.  He  was 
tortured  by  the  laying  of  white  hot  bricks  on 
his  palpitating  body,  but  instead  of  shrieking 
with  the  pain,  he  gave  every  evidence  of  joy  in 
the  progress  of  the  execution,  seized  the  bricks 
himself  and  applied  them  to  his  burning  and 
smoking  flesh  while  he  sang  songs  and  laughed 
aloud  as  if  he  were  experiencing  the  most  ex- 
quisite pleasure.  The  ecstasy  of  his  death  was 
such  that  his  name  is  mentioned  with  tears  of 
mystical  joy  by  those  who  chronicle  his  his- 
tory, and  many  were  led  to  embrace  the  faith 
for  which  he  died  by  his  endurance  of  the  tor- 
tures heaped  upon  him. 

In  fact  this  has  been  the  constant  result  of 
the  martyrdoms,  the  Friends  of  God  have  suf- 
fered and  the  Mohammedans  acknowledge  that 
they  live  up  to  their  title.  The  only  fault  of 
a  martyr  lies  in  the  fact  that  he  is  a  "friend." 
Haider  Ali  has  witnessed  the  execution  of  many 
martyrs  and  declares  that  the  Presence  of  God 
Js  so  manifest  in  the  joy  of  their  departure 
that  numbers  of  the  attending  crowd  disperse 
but  to  seek  out  the  Bahais  and  learn  the  mean- 
ing of  a  faith  that  can  so  eliminate  the  horror 
of  death! 

187 


THE  SHINING  PATHWAY 

He  tells  of  a  young  man,  who,  when  his  valu- 
ables were  taken  from  him  secreted  five  pounds 
in  gold,  or  twenty-five  dollars,  sewing  the  coins 
into  his  coat  so  that  they  could  be  easily  ex- 
tracted. It  is  customary  in  Persia  to  present 
such  a  gift  to  the  man  who  gives  away  the 
bride  in  the  marriage  ceremony.  As  he  stepped 
upon  the  place  of  death,  he  turned  to  the  exe- 
cutioner, and  proffered  him  the  gold,  saying, 
in  clear  and  happy  tones : 

"Accept  this  gift,  because  you  are  taking  me 
to  my  bride!" 

Another  youth  as  he  went  up  the  stairs  to 
the  gallows,  remarked  to  the  headsman:  "I  will 
give  you  something  before  I  die!" 

The  functionary  made  a  jeering  response, 
for  it  is  the  rule  to  strip  the  victim  of  all 
money  and  jewels  before  leading  him  to  exe- 
cution. When  the  young  man's  turn  came  the 
executioner  struck  him  with  the  axe  but  did  not 
entirely  decapitate  him.  Instantly  he  caught 
two  handfuls  of  blood  and  extended  them  to  his 
death  dealer,  crying  in  a  perfectly  audible  voice 
which  all  could  distinguish: 

"I  said  I  would  make  you  a  gift !  Here  it  is !" 

Haider  Ali  has  written  a  touching  history  of 
the  recent  martyrdoms  in  Persia  which  were 
suffered  in  1903.  These  have  been  instigated 
by  the  greed  of  provincial  officials,  and  the 

188 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

bigotry  of  the  Mohammedan  clergy.  The  Mul- 
lahs are  powerful  and  wealthy  men  enraged  at 
the  rapid  spread  of  the  faith  which  will  wipe 
out  their  official  existence.  They  are  eager, 
therefore,  to  continue  the  persecution  of  the 
Friends  of  God,  and  whenever  they  can  find  the 
governor  of  a  province  whose  cupidity  can  be 
roused,  they  paint  before  his  cruel  and  greedy 
eyes  a  flaming  picture  of  the  wealth  that  may 
be  his  through  confiscation  alone,  if  he  will 
persecute  the  Bahais.  The  latter  are  often 
found  among  the  wealthy  class,  and  it  is  these 
who  are  the  first  victims  as  a  rule. 

Then  when  the  thirst  for  blood  has  been 
roused  the  lowest  elements  of  the  population 
rush  into  loot  and  riot,  and  before  order  can 
be  restored  numbers  have  been  slain.  Fre- 
quently the  governor  is  in  secret  alliance  with 
the  rioters,  because  after  the  men  have  been 
murdered,  and  sometimes  women  and  children 
also,  he  appropriates  to  himself  the  property 
that  should  have  provided  for  their  defenseless 
families. 

The  household  of  Abdul  Baha  is  the  refuge 
of  these  afflicted  people,  and  the  Servant  of  God 
always  sees  that  the  children  are  educated  and 
the  mourning  wives  comforted.  The  Friends 
of  God  have  learned  very  positively  the  habit 
of  sharing  with  one  another,  and  they  never 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

seem  to  prize  money  except  for  what  it  will  do 
to  increase  the  well  being  of  the  world. 

The  following  extract  from  a  beautiful  chant 
written  by  Abdul  Baha  in  honor  of  a  recent 
martyr  reveals  the  feeling  with  which  these 
agonies  are  regarded. 

"Blessed  is  the  pure  blood  which  was  shed  on 
the  perfumed  soil,  and  which  was  poured  out 
in  the  path  of  the  forgiving  Lord !  Blessed  is 
thy  body  which  was  burned  by  the  hand  of 
every  transgressor !  Blessed  is  thy  throat 
which  was  cut  by  the  poniard  of  every  traitor! 
Blessed  is  thy  breast  which  was  stricken  by 
the  oppressors'  darts !  Blessed  is  thy  heart 
which  was  wounded  by  a  sharp  sword !  Blessed 
art  thou,  for  thou  hast  showed  forth  all  happi- 
ness and  joy  when  thou  wast  being  paraded  in 
the  streets  of  the  people  of  arrogance,  and  the 
wicked  ones  were  clapping  their  hands  and  op- 
pressing thee  with  innumerable  blows  and 
wouncls,  while  thou  wert  clapping  thy  hands 
with  them.  O,  thou  manifester  of  light!  And 
wert  warbling  melodies,  whereby  the  people  of 
the  Kingdom  of  El-Abha  were  moved  and 
breasts  were  dilated  with  joy." 

During  the  life  of  Baha  Ullah  he  gave  the 
name  of  Zeab  or  Wolf  to  one  of  the  prominent 
Mohammedan  Mullahs,  and  that  of  Ebn  Zeab 
or  Wolf's  Son  to  his  descendant,  though  this 

190 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

man  had  not  then  displayed  the  qualities  of  his 
father.  It  was  the  latter  who  inaugurated  the 
atrocities  of  Isfahan.  Though  he  is  popularly 
called  Ebn  Zeab,  his  name  is  Sheik  Taki.  He 
forged  a  telegram  from  the  prime  minister  of 
Persia,  of  which  he  had  four  hundred  flaming 
copies  posted  on  the  walls  of  Isfahan,  one 
night.  It  read: 

"Sheik  Taki  must  protect  the  religion  of 
Islam !"  and  as  he  well  knew  it  acted  as  an 
incitement  to  the  persecution  of  the  Friends  of 
God,  especially  as  the  town  was  filled  with 
rumors  of  rioting  against  the  Bahais  in  the 
neighboring  city  of  Resht. 

The  first  victim  was  one  of  the  most  honored 
citizens  of  the  locality.  He  was  a  refuge  to 
the  poor  and  suffering  and  beloved  by  every 
one.  He  was  literally  chopped  to  pieces  by  the 
mob.  With  his  last  breath  he  cried  out : 

"You  have  done  me  no  harm !  You  are  only 
transmitting  me  to  my  Lord!" 

The  devoted  people  took  refuge  in  the  Rus- 
sian consulate,  which  was  the  only  place  open 
to  them,  and  there  they  remained  until  a  letter 
from  the  governor  was  read  to  them,  begging 
them  to  return  to  their  homes  and  assuring 
them  of  protection.  Thereupon  they  ventured 
forth,  but  the  mob  was  awaiting  them,  fell 
upon  them  with  merciless  rage,  and  seventy 

191 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

people  were  killed  outright,  besides  hundreds 
who  were  wounded  and  maltreated. 

In  Yezd  the  rioting  was  incited  again  by  a 
Mullah,  who  recited  as  an  urge  to  massacre  the 
bloody  tale  of  what  had  been  done  in  Resht 
and  Isfahan. 

It  is  a  strange  and  rather  distressing  psycho- 
logical fact  that  the  non-resistance  of  the 
Bahais  which  at  first  acted  as  a  deterrent  from 
persecution,  has  seemed  in  later  years  to  ap- 
peal only  to  the  basest  motives  of  the  common- 
wealth, and  serve  as  an  incentive  to  abuse.  The 
persecutor  seems  to  say: 

"I  may  as  well  get  what  I  can  out  of  the 
Friends  of  God,  as  they  will  not  resist  I  can 
take  my  fill  of  slaughter  and  spoil !" 

The  first  victim  at  Yezd  was  a  little  child  of 
eleven  years,  whose  father  was  a  tin  smith  and 
kept  a  shop  of  that  description.  He  was 
frankly  a  "friend."  The  teacher  of  the  school 
where  the  child  was  instructed  secretly  sug^ 
gested  to  the  pupils  that  they  attack  the  inno- 
cent boy,  and  when  he  ran  to  his  superior  for 
protection,  the  latter  commanded  him  to  curse 
his  religion  and  deny  it.  This  the  child  re- 
fused to  do,  showing  remarkable  courage  and 
self  control.  He  said: 

"I  am  only  a  school  boy,  knowing  nothing 

192 


THE    SHINING   PATHWAY 

of  the  reality  of  things!  How  can  I  stain  my 
lips  with  a  curse?" 

Whereupon  the  inhuman  monster  who  was 
his  instructor  set  upon  the  child  with  the 
swarm  of  pupils.  They  beat  him  with  sticks, 
slashed  him  with  their  pen  knives,  bored  into 
his  tender  flesh  with  awls,  pierced  him  with 
needles  until  he  died.  During  the  frightful 
ordeal  of  this  slow  anguish,  which,  as  may  be 
seen  was  quite  unofficial,  the  boy  kept  repeat- 
ing: "Oh,  Most  Glorious  God!  Oh,  My  Su- 
preme Beloved!"  and  not  a  complaint  escaped 
his  childish  lips.  After  the  orgy  of  sacrifice 
was  over,  the  teacher  himself,  and  the  pupils 
who  assisted  in  the  massacre  expressed  their 
amazement  at  the  superhuman  fortitude  of  the 
little  one. 

While  the  teacher  had  been  taking  his  pleas- 
ure with  the  son,  the  rioting  crowd  invaded  the 
shop  of  the  tin  smith,  destroyed  his  property, 
beat  his  wife,  tormented  his  babies,  and  car- 
ried away  the  unfortunate  man  himself,  amused 
with  the  tortures  they  inflicted  upon  him. 

Arrived  at  a  butcher  shop  they  seized  the 
meat  axes,  and  proceeded  to  chop  him  with 
these,  until  just  before  life  was  extinct  he  was 
rescued  by  a  trooper  of  the  governor  who  came 
along,  and  carried  him  bleeding  and  senseless 
to  the  governor's  court.  Meanwhile  the  crowd 

193 


THE   SHINING  PATHWAY 

had  beaten  to  death  in  the  same  way  the  uncle 
of  the  tin  smith,  and  discovering  that  three 
members  of  one  family  had  thus  been  slaught- 
ered, these  cruel  men  tied  the  helpless  bodies 
together,  and  dragged  them  about  the  town  as 
honorable  trophies  of  victory.  They  seemed 
to  feel  a  morbid  and  rabid  delight  in  thus  pro- 
longing the  sensations  of  blood-shed  which  had 
been  roused  by  the  murders. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  such  examples, 
for  about  a  hundred  and  seventy  people  were 
massacred  in  this  horror  of  Yezd,  but  western 
readers  can  not  endure  even  the  recapitulation 
of  such  agonies,  though  they  sit  quietly 
through  commercial  tragedies  which  are  but 
another  phase  of  power  in  ecstasy. 

The  courage  of  the  victims  who  died  had 
been  nourished  by  such  food  as  that  given  in 
Baha  Ullah's  letter  to  Zeab,  the  Wolf,  father 
of  Sheik  Taki: 

"Hast  thou  imagined  we  are  afraid  of  thy 
cruelty?  Know  ye,  and  be  assured,  from  the 
first  day  that  the  sound  of  the  Supreme  Pen 
arose,  we  gave  up  our  lives,  our  souls,  our 
children  in  the  Path  of  God,  the  Supreme,  the 
Great!  And  ever  this  fact  we  boast  in  glory 
among  all  creatures,  and  the  Supreme  Con- 
course, and  to  this,  what  hath  befallen  us  in 
this  straight  Path  beareth  witness.  In  truth, 

194 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

hearts  are  melted,  bodies  are  crucified,  blood  is 
shed,  while  the  eyes  are  gazing  toward  the 
horizon  of  the  bounty  of  their  Lord,  the  Seer 
and  the  Omniscient!  With  the  increase  of 
calamity,  the  people  of  Baha  grow  in  love. 
And  to  their  sincerity  bears  witness  that  which 
the  Merciful  one  has  revealed  in  the  Koran, 
saying:  'If  ye  be  sincere,  seek  death!' 

"Which  one  is  better,  he  who  conceals  him- 
self to  preserve  his  life,  or  he  who  sacrifices  his 
life  in  the  Path  of  God?  Be  just,  and  not  of 
those  who  are  lost  in  the  wilderness  of  false- 
hood. Verily  they  are  intoxicated  with  the 
wine  of  His  Divine  Love  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  guns  of  the  world  can  not  prevent  them, 
nor  the  swords  of  the  nations  hinder  them  from 
turning  to  the  ocean  of  the  gifts  of  their  Lord, 
the  Tender,  the  Generous.  By  the  Truth  of 
God!  Calamity  has  not  weakened  me,  nor 
have  the  objections  of  the  ulemas  enfeebled  me. 
I  declared,  and  am  declaring  in  the  face  of  all 
the  world:  Verily  the  gates  of  Bounty  are 
opened,  the  Sun  of  Justice  has  appeared  with 
evident  signs  and  clear  proofs  from  the  Pen  of 
God,  the  Omnipotent,  the  Self  Existent !" 

Again  he  says: 

"Blessed  is  he  who  has  suffered  hardships 
for  my  name's  sake,  and  was  not  prevented  by 
the  world  from  entering  my  Court!  Blessed 

195 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

is  he  who  enters  my  Kingdom,  perceiving  the 
dominion  of  my  power  and  Might,  drinking 
from  the  sea  of  my  Utterances,  being  informed 
of  my  Command,  and  what  is  concealed  in  the 
Treasury  of  my  Words,  and  who  has  shown 
forth  from  the  Horizon  of  Significances  my 
Commemoration,  and  my  Praise !  Verily  he  is 
from  me,  and  upon  him  be  my  mercy,  my 
bounty,  my  favor  and  my  benediction !" 

As  the  devoted  ones  were  slaughtered  some 
cried  out: 

"Is  there  no  one  to  witness  how  I  offer  up 
my  life?"  and  others  said:  "We  have  found  the 
Glory,  for  whose  Glory  we  pay  the  price  of  our 
blood!" 

One  greeted  his  assassin;  with  "Good  Bye! 
May  God  preserve  you !"  and  received  his  death 
blow  upon  the  mouth  while  the  sentence  was 
half  uttered. 

A  tall  handsome  youth  exclaimed  as  he  saw 
himself  surrounded  by  fiercest  enemies: 

"Oh,  to-night  is  my  wedding,  and  I  am  to 
obtain  the  beloved  of  my  heart!  And  the  de- 
sire of  my  soul!" 

We  can  not  but  be  reminded  of  Christ's 
words: 

"Blessed  are  they  who  are  persecuted  for 
Righteousness'  sake,  for  their's  is  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven. 

196 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall 
see  God." 

"Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile  you 
and  persecute  you,  and  shall  say  all  manner 
of  evil  against  you  falsely  for  my  name's 
sake." 

"Rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad  for  great  is 
your  reward  in  Heaven,  for  so  persecuted  they 
the  prophets  which  were  before  you !" 

These  bloody  persecutions  are  more  incom- 
prehensible, more  inexcusable  when  one  realizes 
how  well  known  is  the  beautiful  life  of  Abdul 
Baha  throughout  Persia  and  the  Orient,  and 
how  wide  is  his  reputation  for  noble  character 
and  illumination.  The  letter  of  the  deposed 
Shah  illustrates  this,  for  though  he  is  a  nar- 
row Mohammedan  he  could  not  resist  calling 
for  the  help  of  this  one  to  whom  every  one 
appeals  in  his  most  dire  straits. 

So  much  has  been  written  as  to  the  teaching 
and  inculcation  of  ideas  by  Abdul  Baha,  his 
own  expression  has  already  become  so  manifold 
in  many  directions  through  his  beautiful  and 
illuminating  letters  or  "tablets,"  as  they  are 
called  by  the  believers,  that  one  is  almost  over- 
whelmed by  the  wealth  of  detail  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  selection  in  this  direction.  The  book 
of  Miss  Barney,  Some  Answered  Questions  is 
exceedingly  satisfactory.  Miss  Barney  lived 

197 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

a  year  in  Acca,  in  order  to  have  constant  access 
to  Abdul  Baha,  and  receive  the  answers  to  such 
questions  as  western  inquirers  generally  ask  as 
to  modern  phases  of  religious  truth. 

The  volume  covers  a  wide  field,  and  is  full 
of  suggestive  and  inspiring  nuggets  of  wisdom. 
No  one  can  ever  read  the  chapter  in  which 
Abdul  Baha  explains  the  nature  of  God,  and 
afterwards  cherish  the  notion  that  the  Bahaist 
conception  of  God  is  that  of  a  personality. 
Abdul  Baha  makes  it  very  clear  that  God  is 
the  divine  spirit  penetrating,  permeating  and 
controlling  everything.  He  is  both  manifest 
and  unmanifest,  in  his  essence  far  removed  from 
human  comprehension,  but  revealed  always 
through  that  lovely  and  luminous  succession  of 
Messengers  or  Manifestations  who  have  lifted 
the  mind  of  man  to  the  gradually  refining  and 
broadening  apprehension  of  the  Divine  which  it 
is  capable  of  to-day. 

Many  readers  might  completely  misunder- 
stand the  expression  of  Baha  Ullah  and  of  the 
Bab  who  frequently  speak  of  themselves  as 
God.  For  instance  Baha  Ullah  often  utters 
ecstatic  phrases  like: 

"Blessed  is  the  eye  which  is  enlightened  by 
my  Beauty !  Blessed  is  the  car  which  hears  my 
melodies!  Blessed  is  the  affrighted  one  who 
hastens  to  the  shelter  of  My  Name!  Blessed 

198 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

is  the  thirsty  one  who  seeks  the  nectar  of  My 
Benedictions !" 

Or  he  says  in  the  Hidden  Words: 

"Oh,  Son  of  Man! 

"Let  thy  satisfaction  be  in  Myself,  and  not 
in  those  who  are  inferior  to  Me,  and  seek  not 
help  from  any  beside  me,  for  nothing  beside 
Me  will  ever  satisfy  thee." 

"Oh,  Son  of  Existence! 

"My  Bowl  thou  art,  and  My  Light  is  in  thee ; 
Therefore  be  enlightened  by  it,  and  seek  not 
any  beside  Me,  for  I  have  created  thee  rich,  and 
bestowed  abundantly  Grace  upon  thee." 

We  forget  that  John  said  "No  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time,  the  only  begotten  Son 
which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath 
declared  Him." 

Christ  himself  said,  John,  3,  34,  "For  he 
whom  God  hath  sent  speaketh  the  words  of 
God ;  for  God  giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure 
unto  him." 

It  is  thus  the  language  of  God  which  comes 
to  us  through  his  Messenger,  but  that  does  not 
mean  that  the  Messenger  is  a  personal  God. 
He  is  the  Wonderful  One  upon  whom  the 
Spirit  rests,  and  the  Spirit  using  his  lips  utters 
the  Truth  of  God. 

In  his  reality  God  is  the  Environer,  we  can 
not  escape  him,  says  Abdul  Balia,  because  He 

199 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

is  in  all,  the  manifest,  and  supremely  the  un- 
manifest,  the  invisible,  the  marvellous ! 

In  speaking  of  immortality,  Abdul  Baha  uses 
the  beautiful  symbol  of  a  bird  in  the  cage.  It 
is  accustomed  to  its  confinement,  where  food 
and  drink  are  always  provided^  perhaps  it  does 
not  know  its  limitation.  But  suddenly  the 
door  is  opened,  it  is  outside !  It  is  free !  It 
can  spread  its  wings,  and  fly  where  it  will. 
What  joy  in  comparison  with  its  former  state! 

Such  is  the  soul  with  regard  to  this  life  and 
the  next,  he  declares,  and  in  the  beauty  of  the 
illustration  we  perceive  also  its  significance,  for 
if  the  bird  has  been  lamed  by  the  life  of  the 
cage,  if  it  can  no  longer  fly  nor  seek  its  food,  it 
will  suffer  in  the  first  hours  of  the  freedom  it 
has  attained.  It  behooves  us  therefore  to  keep 
our  wings  in  order,  that  we  may  be  ready  to  fly 
when  the  door  is  opened. 

Abdul  Baha  has  been  asked  innumerable 
questions  in  regard  to  spiritual  things,  and 
some  of  his  answers  are  very  beautiful.  For 
instance  a  lady  once  demanded  of  him: 

"Are  the  gifts  of  clairvoyance,  and  clairau- 
dience  true,  and  can  we  attain  them?" 

He  said  thoughtfully: 

"I  think  we  should  learn  to  live  in  the  body 
as  if  it  were  a  glass  case,  through  which  we 
can  look  clearly  on  all  sides.  But  we  must  re- 

200 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

member  that  we  can  not  see  through  glass  un- 
less it  is  clean,  and  no  one  can  dust  his  own  case 
but  himself." 

At  another  time  he  was  confronted  with  an 
inquiry  as  to  the  reality  of  spiritual  healing, 
and  gave  a  most  illuminating  analysis  of  the 
different  modes  of  restoration;  physical  heal- 
ing, which  we  must  seek  through  the  physician, 
mental  and  spiritual  healing.  He  said  we  must 
not  despise  the  physician,  for  he  is  often  the 
messenger  of  God  for  our  restoration.  More- 
over the  wisdom  of  God  has  distributed  healing 
agencies  through  the  physical  world  in  mineral 
and  plant  life,  which  it  is  the  gift  of  the  wise 
physician  to  discover.  He  said  that  the  re- 
markable discoveries  in  the  physical  conquest 
of  disease  in  recent  years  were  a  part  of  the 
world's  advancement  under  its  new  law,  also 
that  we  are  learning  so  much  of  the  restorative 
and  upbuilding  elements  in  food,  that  in  the 
future  we  shall  know  how  to  keep  the  body  in 
its  natural  condition  of  health  merely  through 
the  use  of  proper  food. 

Mental  healing,  he  went  on  to  explain,  is 
excellent,  and  illustrates  the  influence  of  one 
mind  upon  another,  though  the  suggestion  is 
not  necessarily  audible.  This  inaudible  sug- 
gestion, he  declared,  is  often  confounded  with 
spiritual  healing,  but  it  is  very  different.  In 

201 


THE   SHINING   PATPIWAY 

spiritual  healing  the  soul  attains  to  union  with 
God,  and  the  healing  is  perfect.  This  may  be 
an  individual  experience,  or  one  person  may 
lift  another,  through  the  power  of  exaltation 
and  prayer,  into  the  divine  atmosphere.  Then 
as  the  body  is  filled  with  light  through  the 
elevation  of  the  spirit,  every  imperfection  dis- 
appears. This  is  the  only  perfect  and  perma- 
nent healing,  he  added,  all  else  is  a  means  of 
cure,  but  in  the  spiritual  healing,  the  soul  is 
purified,  and  through  that  purification  the  body 
is  completely  restored. 

A  beautiful  extract  from  one  of  Abdul  Baha's 
letters  intensifies  his  interpretation  of  spiritual 
and  mental  healing.  He  speaks  very  strongly 
in  this  communication  of  the  gifts  of  the 
spirit,  of  the  difference  between  the  outward 
and  inward  voice,  etc.  Then  he  says : 

"Then  know  thou  that  the  power  of  the 
Word  of  God  is  effective,  both  in  the  spirit  and 
the  body,  and  tile  influence  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  predominant  over  the  material  as  well 
as  the  essential  and  spiritual.  And  that  verily 
God  is  powerful  in  all  things,  and  that  the 
utterances  have  exoteric  and  esoteric  meaning, 
and  neither  their  outward  prevents  their  in- 
ward, nor  their  inward  their  outward  meaning." 

Abdul  Baha  has  been  asked  many  times  in 
regard  to  the  existence  of  evil,  and  his  reply 

202 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

seems  to  have  brought  consternation  to  those 
who  prefer  to  see  power  resting  in  the  material 
rather  than  the  spiritual  universe.  Here  is 
a  portion  of  one  little  discussion  of  this  very 
broad  subject: 

"The  darkness  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as 
being  created  by  God,  signifies  that  verily  God 
has  not  caused  light  to  shine  there !  inasmuch  as 
when  there  is  no  light  there  is  darkness ;  when 
there  is  no  sight  there  will  be  blindness ;  when 
there  is  no  life  there  will  be  death;  when  there 
is  no  riches  there  will  be  poverty ;  when  there 
is  no  knowledge  there  will  be  ignorance. 

"Consequently  it  is  proven  by  indisputable 
argument  and  clear  explanation  that  verily 
evils  are  non-existent,  but  people  have  not 
understood  the  meaning  of  the  verses  of  the 
Bible." 

Another  letter  is  evidently  written  in  re- 
sponse to  some  queries  as  to  the  study  of 
psychic  phenomena,  and  is  illuminating  in  vari- 
ous directions.  He  says: 

"As  to  him  whom  thou  hast  mentioned  in 
thy  letter:  It  behooveth  him  to  seek  only  the 
divine  bounties,  and  subjects  which  lead  to  the 
real  knowledge  of  the  invisible  world  of  God, 
through  the  mediation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Then  he  will  perceive  the  reality  of  the  triune 
powers  in  man,  through  his  innate  perception. 

203 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

For  verily  the  signs  of  these  triune  powers 
which  exist  in  mankind  are  spirit,  mind  and 
soul.  The  spirit  is  the  power  of  life ;  the  mind 
is  the  power  which  apprehends  the  reality  of 
things;  and  the  soul  is  an  intermediary  between 
the  Supreme  Concourse  (the  spiritual  world) 
and  the  lower  concourse  (material  world).  The 
soul  has  two  phases — the  higher  aspires  to  the 
kingdom  of  El  Beha,  and  the  lights  of  the  mind 
shine  forth  from  that  kingdom  into  its  higher 
sphere.  The  other  phase  inclines  to  the  lowrer 
concourse  of  the  material  world,  and  its  lowest 
sphere  is  enveloped  in  the  darkness  of  ignor- 
ance ;  but  when  light  is  poured  upon  this  phase, 
and  if  this  phase  of  the  soul  is  capable  of  receiv- 
ing it,  then  "truth  hath  come  and  falsehood 
vanishes,  for  falsehood  is  of  short  duration." 
Otherwise  darkness  will  surround  it  from  all 
directions,  and  it  will  be  deprived  of  association 
with  the  Supreme  Concourse,  and  will  remain 
in  the  lowest  depths. 

"As  to  the  'voice.'  There  are  two  kinds  of 
voices,  one  is  the  physical  voice,  and  it  is  ex- 
pressed by  atmospheric  vibrations  which  affect 
the  nerves  of  the  ear.  The  other  is  the  Breath 
of  the  Merciful,  and  this  is  a  call  which  is 
continually  heard  from  the  Supreme  Concourse, 
and  cheers  the  pure  and  holy  souls.  May  it  be 
beneficial  to  those  who  have  heard  the  Call!" 

204 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Abdul  Balm  teaches  that  what  he  terms  the 
Supreme  Concourse  is  that  mighty  galaxy  of 
intelligences  which  we  have  crudely  named 
Heaven.  It  is  the  union  of  angels  or  powers 
which  are  the  agents  of  the  Divine  One  for 
the  ruling  of  the  universe,  and  is  the  center 
of  illumined  spirits.  To  that  center  we  may 
all  be  united,  for  its  "call"  is  ringing  ever 
within  us,  ringing  with  an  especial  clearness 
in  the  Day  of  the  Manifestation  of  God.  The 
soul  may  choose  its  own  guides,  as  the  pas- 
sage indicates,  which  has  just  been  quoted,  and 
happy  is  the  one  who  has  clarified  into  that 
higher  phase  where  the  divine  signals  are  both 
visible  and  audible. 

A  very  remarkable  tablet  or  letter  was  re- 
ceived several  years  ago  by  Mrs.  and  Mr. 
Dealy,  of  Alabama,  and  was  addressed  especi- 
ally to  the  little  congregation  of  the  faith 
which  they  had  founded.  It  is  an  admirable 
illustration  of  that  eloquence  which  Abdul  Baha 
sometimes  makes  use  of,  and  is  full  of  signifi- 
cant allusions.  It  is  as  follows : 

"When  the  darkness  of  ignorance  and  the 
heedlessness  concerning  the  Realm  of  Eternity 
and  bereavement  from  the  True  One  had  en- 
circled the  universe,  then  the  resplendent 
Luminary  dawned,  and  the  Brilliant  Light 
illumined  the  horizon  of  the  East.  Hence  the 

205 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

Sun  of  Reality  shone  forth,  scattering  the 
sparkling  Lights  of  the  Kingdom  to  the  East 
and  to  the  West.  Those  who  had  the  seeing 
eyes,  found  the  Most  Great  Glad  Tidings,  be- 
gan to  cry  the  Call,  'Oh,  Blessed  are  we!' 
'Oh,  Blessed  are  we!'  and  have  beheld  the 
realit}'  of  things  themselves,  have  discovered 
the  Mysteries  of  the  Kingdom,  were  released 
from  superstition  and  doubts,  perceived  the 
lights  of  Truth,  and  became  so  intoxicated 
with  the  Cup  of  the  Love  of  God,  that  wholly 
forgetting  the  world  and  themselves  while 
dancing,  they  ran  with  utmost  joy  and  ecstasy 
to  the  city  of  martyrdom,  sacrificing  their 
minds  and  their  lives  upon  the  Altar  of  Love. 

"But  those  wrho  were  blinded  became  aston- 
ished, and  on  account  of  these  joyous  accla- 
mations were  bewildered  and  began  to  cry, 
'Where  is  the  Light?'  and  said,  'We  do  not 
behold  any  light,  we  do  not  see  any  Rising  Sun ! 
It  is  void  of  any  truth!  This  is  pure  imagi- 
nation !' 

"However  they  have  hastened  batlike  to 
the  darkness  below  the  ground,  and  according 
to  their  own  thoughts  they  have  found  a  little 
comfort  and  tranquility.  Nevertheless  it  is 
yet  the  early  dawn,  and  the  strength  of  the 
heats,  and  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Truth  have 

206 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

not  yet  made  their  torrid  and  complete  im- 
pression. When  it  reaches  the  midst  of 
Heaven,  the  heat  will  interpenetrate  with  such 
great  intensity  that  it  will  move  and  spur  to 
the  greatest  velocity  even  the  insects  below  the 
earth.  Although  they  are  not  able  to  behold 
the  light,  yet  the  penetration  of  the  heat  will 
move  and  agitate  all  of  them. 

"Consequently,  Oh  ye  Friends  of  God,  be  ye 
thankful  that  in  the  Day  of  the  Effulgence  ye 
have  turned  your  faces  to  the  Orb  of  the 
regions  and  beheld  the  Lights.  Ye  have  re- 
ceived a  portion  from  the  rays  of  Truth,  and 
are  endowed  with  a  share  from  the  everlasting 
outpouring.  Therefore  ye  must  not  rest  one 
minute,  but  thank  Him  for  this  Bestowal. 

"Be  not  seated  and  silent !  Diffuse  the  Glad 
Tidings  of  the  Kingdom  far  and  wide  to  the 
ears,  promulgate  the  Word  of  God,  and  put 
into  practice  the  Advices  and  Covenants  of 
God.  That  is,  arise  ye  with  such  qualities  and 
attributes  that  ye  may  continually  bestow  life 
to  the  body  of  the  world,  and  nurse  the  infants 
of  the  universe,  up  to  the  station  of  maturity 
and  perfection.  Enkindle  with  all  your  might, 
in  every  meeting  the  Light  of  the  Love  of  God, 
gladden  and  cheer  every  heart  with  the  utmost 
loving  kindness,  show  forth  your  love  to  the 
strangers  just  as  you  show  it  forth  to  your  rel- 

207 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

atives.  If  a  soul  is  seeking  to  quarrel,  ask  ye 
for  reconciliation;  if  he  blame  ye,  praise;  if 
he  give  you  a  deadly  poison,  bestow  ye  an  all- 
healing  antidote;  if  he  create  death,  administer 
ye  eternal  Life;  if  he  becomes  a  thorn,  change 
ye  into  roses  and  hyacinths.  Perchance 
through  such  deeds  and  words  this  darkened 
world  will  become  illuminated,  this  terrestrial 
universe  will  become  transformed  into  a 
Heavenly  Realm,  and  this  Satanic  prison  a 
Divine  Court;  warfare  and  blood-shed  be  anni- 
hilated, and  love  and  faithfulness  hoist  the  Tent 
of  Unity  upon  the  apex  of  the  world. 

"These  are  the  results  of  the  Divine  Advices 
and  Exhortations,  and  the  epitome  of  the 
teachings  of  the  Bahai  Cycle." 

This  beautiful  letter  has  also  been  translated 
by  Ahmad  Sohrab,  of  Washington,  and  is  both 
lovely  and  wonderful  in  its  expression  and  con- 
tents. We  must  always  miss  the  peculiar 
beauty  of  the  Persian  tongue,  but  a  trace  of  it 
has  crept  into  the  Englishing  of  this  splendid 
message. 

Naturally  there  is  something  in  the  spoken 
word  of  Abdul  Baha,  in  the  radiance  of  his 
face,  and  the  richness  of  his  voice,  which  is 
beyond  any  written  utterance,  no  matter  how 
noble  that  may  be.  The  people  to  whom  his 
words  are  spoken  never  forget  them,  and  re- 

208 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

peated  and  repeated  again,  they  always  seem 
to  carry  a  trace  of  the  original  fragrance  that 
surrounded  them  when  first  dropped  into  the 
listening  ear. 

Mrs.  C.  was  a  believer  who  went  to  Acca 
some  years  ago.  She  was  one  of  a  fashionable 
and  wealthy  circle  in  New  York,  and  had 
learned  of  Abdul  Baha  while  traveling  abroad. 
She  had  lived  a  conventional,  and  rather  un- 
satisfied life.  She  had  been  a  sincere  Episco- 
palian, but  never  was  able  to  gain  much  com- 
fort from  her  religion,  though  she  earnestly 
sought  this  joy.  She  had  lost  health  from 
inanition  more  than  any  real  illness,  and  had 
become  accustomed  to  a  half  melancholy  state 
from  which  she  hardly  sought  to  rouse  herself. 

She  grasped  the  message  of  Truth  from  Ab- 
dul Baha  with  an  eagerness  that  carried  her 
almost  immediately  to  the  prison  city.  Once 
there,  she  was  interested  in  everything,  but 
especially  in  Abdul  Baha. 

She  had  formed  a  habit  of  spiritual  concen- 
tration or  devotion  which  caused  her  some  dis- 
tress. She  spent  half  an  hour  after  she  rose 
each  morning,  in  thinking  of  her  duties  during 
the  day,  and  how  she  should  fulfill  them,  and 
another  half  hour  before  retiring  at  night,  in 
mourning  because  she  had  not  consistently  car- 
ried out  her  morning's  plans.  She  believed  this 

209 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

was  worship,  and  was  over  conscientious  as  to 
her  duties,  which  were  always  spelled  in 
capitals.  If  any  one  had  assured  her  it  was 
her  duty  to  be  happy,  she  would  probably  have 
been  stricken  with  horror. 

In  the  household  of  Abdul  Baha  the  family 
meets  in  the  Holy  Mother's  large  living  room 
at  a  very  early  hour  every  morning,  and  tea 
is  served  in  delicate  cups  and  saucers  of  glass. 
While  the  company  is  quietly  disposing  of  this 
simple  refreshment,  the  youngest  members  of 
the  family  chant  the  holy  words  in  low  musical 
tones.  It  is  a  very  inspiring  commencement 
of  the  day,  and  Abdul  Baha  frequently  talks 
with  such  fervor  and  gladness  that  all  arc  re- 
joiced as  they  separate  for  their  various  tasks. 

Mrs.  C.  observed  that  the  Servant  of  God 
always  greeted  her  with  the  same  words,  "Be 
Happy !"  She  watched  the  other  members  of 
the  party,  and  assured  herself  that  he  ad- 
dressed them  all  differently,  but  never  failed  to 
say  to  her,  "Be  Happy!" 

She  was  troubled  about  it,  and  at  length  she 
begged  Monevcr  Khanom  the  daughter  of  the 
household  to  ask  her  father  for  the  reason  of 
this  exclusive  admonition.  When  the  question 
was  propounded  to  Abdul  Baha  he  turned  to 
Mrs.  (\  with  his  peculiarly  illuminating  smile, 
and  replied: 

210 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

"I  tell  you  to  be  happy  because  we  can  not 
know  the  spiritual  life  unless  we  are  happy !" 

Then  Mrs.  C.'s  dismay  was  complete,  and 
her  diffedence  vanished  with  the  fulness  of  her 
despair. 

"But  tell  me,  what  is  the  spiritual  life?"  she 
cried,  "I  have  heard  ever  since  I  was  born  about 
the  spiritual  life,  and  no  one  could  ever  explain 
to  me  what  it  is!" 

Abdul  Baha  looked  at  his  questioner  again 
with  that  wonderful  smile  of  his,  and  said 
gently  : 

"Characterize  thyself  with  the  characteristics 
of  God,  and  thou  shalt  know  the  spiritual  life !" 

That  was  all,  but  it  was  enough.  Mrs.  C. 
began  to  query,  "What  did  he  mean?  What 
are  the  characteristics  of  God?  They  must  be 
the  great  attributes,  of  course,  Love,  Beauty, 
Generosity,  Justice,"  and  so  on  in  beautiful 
succession. 

All  day  long  her  mind  was  flooded  with  the 
divine  puzzle,  and  all  day  long  she  was  happy. 
She  did  not  give  a  thought  to  her  duties,  and 
yet  when  she  arrived  at  the  moment  of  her 
evening's  reckoning,  she  could  not  remember 
that  she  had  left  them  undone. 

At  last  she  began  to  understand.  If  she 
was  absorbed  in  Heavenly  ideals,  they  would 
translate  themselves  into  deeds  necessarily,  and 

211 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

her  days  and  nights  would  be  full  of  light. 
From  that  moment  she  never  quite  forgot  the 
divine  admonition  that  had  been  granted  her: 

"Characterize  thyself  with  the  character- 
istics of  God !" 

And  she  learned  to  know  the  spiritual  life. 

Mrs.  C.  had  another  beautiful  moment  with 
Abdul  Baha  which  meant  much  to  her.  Just 
before  she  left  the  household  he  came  into  her 
room  to  say  farewell,  and  seating  himself  by 
the  window  looked  off  upon  the  sea  in  silence 
for  so  long  a  time  that  his  guest  began  to 
wonder  if  he  had  forgotten  her  presence. 

Then  at  length  he  turned  to  her  and  said, 
with  that  eager  speech  that  is  one  of  his  pe- 
culiarities : 

"Mrs.  C.  when  you  go  back  to  New  York 
talk  to  people  about  the  love  of  God.  People 
in  the  world  do  not  talk  enough  about  God. 
Their  conversation  is  filled  with  trivialities,  and 
they  forget  the  most  momentous  subjects.  Yet 
if  you  speak  to  them  of  God  they  are  happy, 
and  presently  they  open  their  hearts  to  you. 
Often  you  can  not  mention  this  glorious  Reve- 
lation, for  their  prejudice  would  interfere,  and 
they  would  not  listen.  But  you  will  find  that 
you  can  always  talk  to  them  about  the  love 
of  God." 

Then  he  went  away,  and  Mrs.  C.  sat  a  long 

212 


THE   SHINING   PATHWAY 

time  in  the  gathering  darkness,  while  the  glory 
of  the  sun  descended  upon  the  glittering  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean.  The  fragrant  shadows 
seemed  to  echo  softly  with  the  last  words  of 
Abdul  Baha : 

"You  will  find  that  you  can  always  talk  to 
them  about  the  love  of  God." 


THE    END. 


213 


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